Fantastic Five
by StoryLover95
Summary: A retelling of Fantastic Four with an extra person. After the first movie I will do the second and then possibly one of my own unique creation.
1. A Deal With Von Doom

A/N: Got the idea while watching Fantastic Four. 

**Summary: We all saw what happened to the Fantastic Four…but what if it was five? (Yeah I know this is a sentence not a summary but roll with it!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**_________________________________________________________________**

**A Deal With Von Doom**

**Reed Richards, Katherine Richards and Ben Grimm all walked up to a huge building. There was construction being done on a statue. **

"**Well, typical of Victor Von Doom to build a 30ft statue of himself." Ben snorted.**

"**It's obviously aimed at first time business men to give them a feeling of smallness…inadequacy." Reed spoke sadly. **

"**Aw cheer up bro. One thing you've got that Victor Von Doom doesn't is friends." Katherine said. Katherine was a head shorter than both Reed and Ben. She had dark brown hair like her brother Reed's that reached her waist. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled the gold fleck on the iris. She was 19 years old. **

**Reed smiled. "Thanks Kat."**

"**Why are you here again?" Ben asked. Kat smiled.**

"**Well, since mom died I've been living with Reed, and since YOUR usually my babysitter that means FIELD TRIP!" **

**The trio walked into the huge building and to the top floor. "A million years ago a cosmic storm passed through earth's orbit which I believe triggered the planetary evolution. In 6 weeks another cosmic storm will pass right through Earth's orbit. If we can study this from space we can learn more about the human gene. Think of all the good we could do? Children could live longer, stronger health-" Reed was offering. Ben was standing next to him and Katherine was sitting on the stairs behind them writing in a notebook. Victor interrupted them.**

"**Turn it off." **

"**But I don't think I've fully-"**

"**Oh but I think you have." Reed didn't seem put off. **

"**Victor, remember in school when we thought about working together? Well that was what I was about to propose. The storm is deadly. The shields on your space station should be strong enough to protect the occupants." Victor turned on the light.**

"**So it's not only my money you want, it's also my toys." Reed nodded. "Tell me if NASA doesn't trust you what makes you think I will?" Reed and Ben shared a look. Katherine shut her book and stood up at Victors chuckling. **

"**Well, you've always been a visionary Victor. How would it look if Victor Von Doom not only funded and provided the research facility but also aided in a new amazing discovery that could change our outlook on life?" Katherine put in. Reed raised his eyebrow and smiled at her. Ben was trying not to laugh at Victor shooting her a quizzically look. "Reed isn't the only genius in the family." Katherine said sitting back down. **

"**I don't know Reed. I'm not liking this." Ben spoke.**

"**It's alright Ben. It's just business." Reed assured.**

**Sue Storm came out from behind Katherine. "He's right Ben. It is just business." Katherine turned around and smiled hugging her. "Hey Kathy. How've you been?" **

"**Good. Just a little reading and writing…and I MAY have accidentally blown up Uncle Ben's room." She added on the last part sheepishly. **

"**That was you?! I blamed Reed for that for weeks!" Ben shouted. Sue laughed and went to hug Ben. **

"**It's so good to see you. How's Debbie?" **

"**Debbie's fine."**

"**Good. It's good to see you Reed." Sue stuck out her hand for him to shake. Katherine bit her lip looking at her brother and quickly opened up her notebook again and started writing. Victor came over. **

"**If we are to work together then I want 75% of the profits." Victor spoke. Reed was about to argue before Victor spoke again. "25% of a Billon is enough to keep the lights on for a while. Might even pay off the fourth mortgage for the Baxter building." Reed's jaw set but her never the less shook Victor's outstretched hand. "Look's like we're all going to be working with each other. Funny how things work out?" Reed started gathering his stuff up and walked with the other three out of the room. They all piled into the elevator. **

**Ben and Katherine were standing in the back. Katherine's book was opening but she occasionally would lift her eyes up to stare at Sue and Reed. Ben wasn't even bothering to hid the fact he was staring. "Reed the solar winds are picking up speed they might-" **

"**I've already factored them in." Reed replied. **

"**Oh, in theory. It's a lot different when your out there." Sue pressed on.**

"**I assure you I fact-" Ben cut off Reed.**

"**When are we leaving?" Sue looked back at Ben and smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood. **

"**Well, everything is all set so I'll schedule the launch." She pulled out a car from her pocket. "You can call me to get the information." Reed looked at the card and smirked. **

"**I think I remember the number." **

**Without even letting the confident smirk leave her face she spoke again. "It's been changed." Reed's smirk fell. Katherine stifled a laugh. Reed look back at her and she looked at Ben then back at Reed. She pointed to herself and Ben then back to Sue. After she was sure her brother got the message she went back to writing in her notebook. **

**Reed cleared his throat. "Well, I was thinking fro crew we could get Ben to pilot and Kat to help with calculations and collecting findings." Sue smiled.**

"**Kat is always welcome to come. But we've already got a pilot. Your welcome to ride shotgun though. You remember my brother Johnny?" Immediately Ben's face fell and Reed looked over at his younger sister. She had stopped writing and looked up her eye brow raised and her eyes narrowed dangerously. **

**At the Launch Site**

**The three were all standing on a catwalk with binoculars on. They saw Johnny making out with a girl while she was driving her car and he was riding his motorcycle. "I can't do it. Can't do it." Ben muttered. Katherine was glaring daggers at the boy.**

"**I'm with Uncle Ben."**

"**What are you talking about? Ben you were the best pilots at NASA and Katherine you were sent a formal letter of acceptance for the Junior Scientist position 13 times!" Reed exclaimed. **

"**It's not that. I can't take orders from the underwear model!" Ben argued. **

"**I'm sure he isn't that bad." Reed spoke.**

"**He got kicked out because he snuck to Victoria Secret wannabes into a flight simulator." Katherine crossed her arms across her chest. **

**Reed smiled trying to look on the bright side of things. "Youthful spirits." **

"**They crashed it into a wall. A flight SIMULATOR!" Ben retorted. **

"**Oh come on how many times have I asked you two to do something you absolutely couldn't do?" Reed asked. Ben and Kat looked at each other. **

"**5 times." They said in unison. They both started walking away. **

"**I had it at four." Reed spoke.**

"**Well this makes five!" Ben shouted behind him. Reed smiled.**

**Inside Getting Ready**

**The team were all inside getting ready for the flight. Ben was packing his bag. Reed had already packed both his and Katherine's while she was changing into her flight suit. Ben was looking at a picture he kept as a book mark. It was of him and his wife Debbie. "I miss you already Debbie." **

"**Captain on the Bridge!" Someone shouted. Immediately Ben was on his feet and standing in a military position. There was a camera flash coming from the camera in Johnny's hand. He was wearing a skin-tight blue jumpsuit and black boots. He had his bag slung across his shoulder. "Camera $200. The look on your former C.O.'s face when he find out that he's your Junior Officer…priceless." Johnny snickered. Ben glared at him and walked over and grabbed his neck. Instead of strangling the boy like he wanted to he simply zipped up the jumpsuit. "Oh thank you that's very sweet." Johnny said sarcastically.**

"**I can handle the ship. I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition. What I can't figure out is whether to fly the ship or do Swan Lake in these suits. Who designed these anyways?" Ben complained. Sue came around the corner in her own suit and boots. She had the zipper down to show off a sufficient amount of cleavage. She looked stunning and everyone in the room knew it. She was holding standard astronaut suits in one arm.**

"**Victor did. The synthetics adapt to ones body. It becomes a second skin adapting to your individual needs." She explained. **

"**Now, you see what that means is it keeps the hot stuff hot and it keeps the cool stuff cool." He explained in simpler terms. Reed got out of his seat and walked over to Sue. **

"**Wow. Fantastic." Sue smiled a bit. "Material made from unstable regulating molecules." Sue's smile fell. Everyone shared a look. "I've been working on a formula for this. **

"**Well I've got everyone's flight suits. Ben." She handed his sweetly to him. "Reed" She threw it at him as he was unbuttoning the top of his shirt. "Where's Katherine?" Sue asked looking around. Johnny looked up smiling.**

"**No way. Little Kathy's coming? Oh man I haven't seen her in five years!" He exclaimed. Ben rolled his eyes. "I can't wait to see her." **

"**One you are only two years older than her and two I'm pretty sure the feeling isn't mutual." He snickered.**

**Johnny smiled and pointed to his face. "Who couldn't love a face like this?" Then he thought a second. "And besides I'm sure that she hasn't grown much since I've seen her." As if on cue Katherine walked into the room. **

"**Hey Kathy." Ben smiled at the girl. Johnny hearing the arrival of the girl turned and his mouth dropped open. She looked as good as his own sister in the suit. In fact, in her own way she looked BETTER. Johnny swallowed the lump in his throat. Katherine had walked over to the group.**

"**I don't like these suits. They're so not fun to wear." She pulled nervously at her collar. **

**Sue smiled and gave the girl her flight suit. "Well, it'll grow on you." She assured. Then she looked at her brother and smiled evilly. "Here's yours Johnny." She said tossing it to him. Katherine immediately froze at the mention of Johnny's name. She turned her head slowly around and saw Johnny smirking. Johnny got up and walked over to her. The scowl on Kathy's face was a clear sign that Ben was right. Reed was changing into his flight suit chuckling a bit while Ben and Sue were looking at the two and struggling not to laugh.**

"**Hey Kathy. Look's like you've grown up since the last time I've seen you." Johnny spoke in a soft slightly seductive tone and put a hand on her shoulder. Kathy's scowl disappeared and she smiled brightly. Johnny took that as a sign he was working his magic. No women could resist his charm.**

"**Not only have I grown up but I'm not as defenseless as I was back then." She spoke. Johnny raised and eyebrow slightly confused. From behind a door Reed shouted out.**

"**She is now the New York state Kickboxing champion and a third degree black belt in Judo, Tai Kwon Do, and Aikido." He called out. Katherine smirked.**

"**And if you want to keep your arm attached to your torso then I suggest you remove it from my shoulder." She said in a menacing tone. Johnny immediately removed his hand. Katherine grabbed her bag and flight suit and walked out. Everyone started to laugh at the shocked expression on Johnny's face.**

**In Space**

**The shuttle docked and the 6 members of the team stepped out. Victor was in front leading the way. "ETA 9 hours." He spoke. Johnny and Ben came out next carrying two boxes each.**

"**If your good maybe next time Daddy 'll let you drive." Johnny taunted. **

"**Keep talking and there won't be a next time." Ben growled. Sue and Reed came walking out next. Reed stopped and stared out the window.**

"**A long way from the projection at Hayden's Planetarium isn't it?" Sue asked walking away. Reed smiled after her.**

"**Yes. Yes it is." He then followed. Katherine came out last holding a notebook and comic book in one hand. There was a pen in the space between her ear and hair. She didn't look out the window. She just kept going right past it lost in her own little world.**

**They all walked into a huge room. "We can monitor the storm and assess the findings from here." Sue spoke. Johnny went to go put down the boxes he was carrying and Sue went to a console. Katherine had plopped down into a seat and started writing. She would occasionally close her book and started reading the comic. **

"**You sure it's safe in here?" Ben asked.**

"**The shields should protect us." Reed assured.**

"**Should?" Ben questioned. **

"**What's the matter Ben? Getting paranoid in your old age?" Victor taunted. Ben tossed Victor a dirty look.**

"**Let's start loading those samples. Ben get your suit ready." Reed spoke. Ben nodded and started walking away.**

"**I see your still doing all the heavy lifting." Victor continued. Ben stopped. "Reed you should have stayed at the lab. Field work never suited you." Sue and Johnny were now watching the argument take place. Katherine was still doing her own thing. **

"**He does the talking. I do the walking." Ben spoke defending Reed. **

"**Then take a walk Ben." Victor retorted. Katherine slammed her book shut. Everyone turned to look at the girl. She walked over and stand beside Reed and Ben but so she was in front of Victor.**

"**Reed does the talking, Ben does the walking, and I do the hitting. The next insult that is directed at my brother or my Uncle (not really related) that comes out of your mouth is going to win your mouth a date with my fist." She didn't wait for an answer. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Victor cleared his throat.**

"**If you could all excuse me for a moment I need to borrow Susan." Everyone walked out. Katherine was leaning against a wall watching the door. **

"**Thanks sweetie." Ben spoke. Katherine smiled. **

"**No problem." The four walked off to get Bens suited on. Reed had stopped somewhere to work on something. **

**Johnny was just finishing strapping Ben into his suit when he started talking. "Please tell me your boy isn't trying to rekindle things with my sister." **

"**Of course not. Strictly business." Katherine assured. She was reading a Super Girl comic book sitting on a stack of boxes. **

"**Yeah, well his eyes say differently." **

"**Look, two hearts were broken last time. Maybe she's not over it either." Ben spoke.**

"**Wow Dr. Phil that's deep. Let's think about this for a second. We have Victor, more money than God, stud of the year and then we have Reed. "The worlds dumbest smart guy and worth less than a postage stamp. Jeez it's a toss up." He handed Ben the flowers and hooked it to his suit. He turned and saw Katherine standing barely an inch away glaring murderously. **

"**One more word. One more bad mouth on my brother and your being shipped out instead of Ben…without a suit." She threatened. Johnny smirked holding his hands up. He guided Katherine out of the airlock. **

"**Don't wander off now boy." He said to Ben. He shut to airlock door and saluted to Ben. Ben rolled his eyes and turned around. The doors opened and showed him space. He could see all the stars and earth. He hopped out and started arranging the flowers on different levels. **

"**Wow…" Katherine breathed finally looking outside.**

"**Breath taking isn't it?" Johnny asked. He looked over and saw Katherine nodding. "Very romantic." He added on. Katherine nodded her head again and stopped mid-nod. She looked over at Johnny. **

"**You are such a flirt." She snorted and went back to a console. She was monitoring Ben's vital signs. She turned and saw Johnny. He had backed her into a wall and had his arms on either side of her. **

"**Yes, I am." He whispered. His face was a few inches away from hers. Katherine leaned in so they were centimeters apart. They could feel each others breath on their neck. Johnny's heart jumped. Katherine had leaned in a bit more so that their lips were a second away from touching. Katherine smiled at Johnny's face.**

"**Too bad. It's not working on me." She whispered and jabbed him in the stomach. He reeled back and stumbled onto his butt. Katherine laughed and went back to her seat on the stack of boxes. **

**With Victor and Sue**

"**Are you surprised that I took Reed's offer?" Victor asked.**

"**I understand the business reasons." Sue spoke. **

"**Sue every man wishes to meet a woman they want to give the world too. In my case that isn't just an expression." Victor said. He opened up the viewing gate and Sue could see the Earth. **

**With Reed**

**He was scribbling something down on a piece of paper when something beeped. 'Cosmic Storm ETA in T-Minus 9 minutes and counting.' Reed did a double take. **

"**That's impossible. It should be 7 hours." **

**With Victor and Sue**

**Victor held a small leather box in his hands. "We've been together for two years." He spoke his hands behind his box. **

"**It's been a good two years. The company has accomplished so much." **

"**Yes…the company. Well I've come to realize that all the accomplishments in the world mean nothing without someone to share them with. I've never been afraid of taking big steps…but now it's time I take the biggest of them all."**

"**Victor…" Sue said. **

"**If it helps think of it as a promotion." **

"**Victor." Sue spoke more sternly. **

**Victor took out a small black box and opened it showing a massive diamond ring with emeralds on the side. "I have four words. Four little words that will change your life forever." **

**Reed ran in. "The cloud is accelerating. We've got minutes til it hits not hours." Reed explained. Sue immediately ran to a console. "Victor this storm is deadly. We need to abort." **

"**No, we didn't come this way to lose our nerve at the first glitch. Close the shields." Victor said harshly. **

"**Ben is still out there!" **

"**Then reel him in. We came here to do a job so lets do it. Quickly." Reed turned and ran.**

"**Victor. Reed's right we have less than 6 minutes!" Sue shouted. Katherine was sitting on her box reading the Super Girl comic and Johnny was at a console when Reed rushed in. **

"**Ben you need to get inside now! Katherine get into the shield area with Sue and Victor now!" Reed shouted. Johnny turned and Katherine lowered her comic.**

"**What's wrong?" Johnny asked.**

"**I ain't done arranging your flowers yet egghead!" Ben complained. **

"**Ben turn around!" Reed spoke. Ben turned around to see a the massive cosmic cloud heading for him. **

"**I ain't gonna make it." Ben whispered. **

"**Ben you've got to jump! It's the only way!" Johnny shouted. **

"**Ben!" Katherine shouted. Reed pushed her back. **

"**Katherine go to the shield room." Reed ordered. Katherine shook her head her eyes brimming with tears. **

"**I'm not leaving you guys here!" She yelled. **

"**That wasn't a request! Now go!" **

"**NO!" She screamed. **

"**Katherine we don't want you to get hurt, your too important now go. Please." Johnny spoke softly. Katherine closed her eyes tightly a fresh round of tears coming down. "Go." Johnny whispered again. Katherine spun around and ran down the hall. **

"**Thanks Johnny." Reed thanked. Johnny nodded.**

"**I wasn't lying about what I said."**

**With Victor and Sue**

**Victor was closing the shields. "What are you doing?" Sue asked. **

"**Closing the shields." Victor answered.**

"**We can't just leave them out there!" **

"**Watch me." Sue looked at Victor before running out. "You can't help them anymore than I can!"**

"**I can try!" **

**Sue ran out and saw Ben through the window jumping to the portal. She froze. **

**Katherine was running down the hall when she stopped. She looked down at the comic book in her hands. 'Super Girl would never leave her friends behind.' She told herself. She threw the comic book to the ground and started sprinting back. "I need to be stronger. I need to be faster. I need to be…to be…a super girl." **

**With Johnny and Reed**

**Ben was jumping when the storm was approaching. "Come on you go this Ben!" Johnny shouted. Ben was getting closer.**

"**Alright Johnny get ready to close the portal." Reed ordered. Johnny nodded and ran to the console. Ben was close to the opening when he was hit with a few of the particles. It sent him flying into the glass as the portal closed. Ben's face was blank and his eyes shone scared as he slumped to the ground. Reed was frozen. He looked to the portal and saw it glowing it exploded and Reed was hit with the particles. He was trying to reach forward for Ben. Johnny ran to Reed and started getting blasted with the particles while fire surrounded him. Sue ran up and got hit. She tried to desperately block her face. Katherine had just turned the corner when the particles hit her. It knocked her into the air. She struggled against it. Trying to see her friends. Trying to hear them. She felt her eyes burning with tears again as she tried to fight her way through the storm. The storm passed and everyone blacked out.**


	2. Quarantine

**A/N: Sorry for the long time no update. My computer crashed and I lost the file but I found it! And the reason that the last chapter was in bold face and underlined was something either to do with my computer or something from with the site, because I can ASSURE you I did NOT intentionally make it like that.**

Disclaimer: I don't of Fantastic Four.

* * *

Quarantine

Ben was just coming to in his room. Johnny was standing over him smiling. "Hey…rise and shine big boy. We were worried about you."

"Where am I?"

"In Victor's medical facility. We're all in quarantine."

"How's everyone?" Ben asked groggily. Johnny's face flashed with worry for the briefest of seconds but Ben caught on. "Whose hurt?"

Johnny sighed. "Everyone's fine. Katherine just hasn't woken up yet. But everyone _else_ is fine."

"What's wrong with me?" Ben asked. Johnny's face became serious.

"I swear to you Ben they've done everything humanly possible. The best plastic surgeons in the world were here. You had the best Ben." Ben started reaching for a mirror.

"Gimme that mirror." He ordered. Johnny snatched it.

"I don't know. They said the shock alone-"

"I said give me that Goddamn mirror!" Ben took it out of Johnny's hands and slowly started to lift it up.

"Ben…be strong." Johnny encouraged. Ben lifted the rest of the mirror up and saw nothing was wrong. He touched his face. Johnny was backing out of the room smirking when he clapped his hands. "Unfortunately the doctors couldn't do anything to fix your face." Ben growled and threw the mirror at Johnny. Johnny ran out of the room as the mirror hit the wall and rained glass everywhere. Johnny walked out and saw Reed coming by. "Hey Reed, how's Kathy? Did she wake up yet?"

Reed shook his head sadly. "No, there hasn't been a change in her situation." Johnny nodded.

"Okay, I'll check up on her later than. Oh and nice due. I'm liking the grandpa look." Reed raised an eyebrow as Johnny walked away and saw gray streaks on the hair above his ears. Reed walked into Sue's room. She was asleep and the many flowers was on in her room.

"How's she doing?" Reed asked.

"She's asleep and her vitals are stable." The doctor spoke. Reed took the clipboard from his hands to look at it.

"Blood shows no irregularities, that's good. You stock up this protocol every-" The doctor cut him off taking the clipboard back.

"Every four hours. We know what we're doing. Another day of observation and your all clear to go." The doctor said walking out. A nurse came in with more flowers. She had orchids in her hand.

"Oh, she's allergic to orchids. Put the sunflowers by her bed. They're her favorite." Reed advised. He walked over and threw out the flower her had planned on giving Sue and walked out. Sue woke up and saw the sunflowers smiling.

At Victors' Office Place

"Congratulations Victor. That's the fastest freefall since the depression. We can't even GIVE your stock away." A man at the head of a big table said.

"You know I can turn this around." Victor said nonchalantly.

"Well your going to have to Victor or we pull out." He said again. Victor looked shocked. "One week."

"Your enjoying this aren't you Ned?" Victor challenged.

"One week." Ned said and walked out.

At the Medical Facility

Johnny came out of a bathroom pulling on snow pants. He smiled when he noticed a young nurse. "Whoa, whoa, where do we think we're going?" She asked.

"I don't know if _we've_ noticed, but the sickest runs this side of the alps are right outside that window." Johnny pointed out, continuing to get snowboarding gear on.

"Yeah, I've noticed." The nurse said. "There are rules here, you can't leave until we've-"

"Until we've finished the tests, yeah, I've never been good with rules." He was about to zip up his jacket but looked at the nurse seductively. "You want to help me with this zipper?"

"You know, this isn't a ski resort right?" She asked ignoring him. Johnny zipped up his jacket and sat on his bed pulling on his shoes.

"Not yet, but luckily grandma still sends care packages." Johnny retorted. "You know it's amazing, for an 80 year old woman-" The nurse shoved a thermometer in his mouth and pressed the button.

"You are trouble." She spoke. The temperature jumped to 108.

"Mhm…trouble is my middle name."

The nurse saw the temperature as it continued to climb and looked surprised. "Oh, your hot." Johnny smirked.

"Why thank you. So are you. And I'm not afraid to cry." He smiled.

"No, I mean you feel a little feverish." She put a hand on his face.

"But I've never felt better in my life. My god you smell good. Listen when do you get off work?" He asked removing her hand and the thermometer.

"Four why?" She asked. Johnny went around the room grabbing a jacket and his snowboard.

"Tell you what, you meet me on the slopes at 4:01, that'll give you a minute to freshen up." He put the thermometer in her pocket. "That's yours." He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "That's mine." He finished as he walked out. She looked at the thermometer and had to look at the screen shocked. It read 209 degrees.

Johnny continued to walk down the hallway and passed by Katherine's room. He stopped and walked inside. There were three doctors in there with straps. "Hey! What's going on in here?!" He asked. The doctors were tying a sleeping, struggling Katherine to the bed frame. She looked like she was in pain and her hair was matted to her head from sweat.

One of the doctors had a black eye and scratch marks on his face. "She is thrashing around in her sleep. We're trying to examine her to see if we can relieve some of her discomfort but she is just too strong." Johnny rose an eyebrow.

"Three grown, MALE doctors can't handle a 19 year old girl…who is SLEEPING?" He asked incredulously. The other two doctors looked tired and confused.

"Yeah, that's exactly it. Whatever they feed this girl it's working. She's asleep and barely putting any effort but managing to beat up three doctors."

The third one nodded in agreement. "Even the needles! When we try to inject her they break!" Johnny laughed.

"Tough girl." He whispered and walked out.

With Reed and Ben

Ben got up and found Reed looking over the facility. "Hey, how long was I out?" Ben asked. Reed turned and smiled.

"Three days man, I was worried about you." Reed admitted. "How do you feel?"

"Solid. So how's Kathy? Johnny told me she still hadn't woken up yet."

Reed nodded looking extremely worried. "Yeah, her condition is…unstable. She can be fine one minute, then the next fighting off doctors in her sleep. We're hoping she could wake up today." Ben nodded.

"That was pretty close there. I mean what was that?" Ben asked.

"I don't know. I really don't know. I've been going over the statistics again, and again and it was all-" Ben cut him off.

"Reed, it was a freak accident. No way you could have predicted it." Reed nodded in understanding. Ben spotted Sue reading on the level below them and smiled. "You know, it's times like these that make you appreciate having the right woman in your life." Reed smiled.

"Yeah, Ben. You and Debbie are great." Ben looked at Reed like he was an idiot.

"I wasn't talking about Debbie." He motioned with his head to Sue.

"What? No. She's got a good thing with Victor. He's smart, powerful, successful-"

"Well maybe you should date him then." Ben retorted.

"She ended up with the right guy. I'm happy." Reed said walking away. Ben looked to his side.

"My partner in matchmaking isn't awake, Playboy is who knows where, and Reed and Sue cannot admit they're feelings. Do I have to do everything myself?"

On the Mountains

Johnny and the nurse were up in a helicopter. She had skies and he had a snowboard. "Alright, you might want to stay to the right. The left might give you trouble." Johnny said. He turned to the pilot. "I think we should drop another couple feet."

The nurse put on her goggles and turned to him smirking. "Last one down springs for room service!" She shouted and jumped. She landed and started skiing down.

Johnny smiled. "Reminds me of Kathy." He said. The pilot looked at him weird. "Um, I said, that's my future wife." The pilot smiled and nodded and Johnny jumped out of the plane. He quickly caught up to the nurse but she was pulling away.

"Your losing!" She shouted. Black smoke started to trail behind Johnny.

"Alright! No more kids stuff! Check this out!" He shouted as spots of fire came on his neck, and jacket. The nurse looked over and saw.

"Your on fire!" She shouted.

"Thank's your pretty good too!"

"No! Your ON FIRE! Look!" The nurse screamed. Johnny looked down and started to pat at the fire. The nurse wiped out as Johnny flew off the side of the mountain. He went completely on flyer and half flew, half glided into a patch of ice. When the nurse skied up Johnny's clothes were gone, and he was sitting in a newly made hot spring.

The nurse looked surprised at him. Johnny shrugged. "Care to join me?" The nurse looked at him, smirked, and dropped her skies.

At the Facility

"I can only stay for one drink, cause I have to meet Victor." Sue said.

"Well, we wouldn't want to keep Vic waiting." Ben said sarcastically as the two walked into the dinning hall. Reed was coming to the group in the opposite way. "Reed, what are you doing here?"

"I thought…" He pointed to Ben. The three exchanged a look. Ben looked about ready to face palm.

"Well, how bout you join us?" He asked grabbing both of their arms and pulling them along to a table.

With Victor

"How's the IBO?" Victor asked looking in the mirror at a growing scar on the right side of his face.

"It's rising. Low twenties, which is a decent number considering-"

"Considering Reed's disaster." Victor finished. "I have to do something about this scar…make sure they only shoot me from my left side."

His assistant looked up. "Actually, the scar's tracking well. People seem to think it humanizes you."

"And that's a good thing?" Victor walked over to a table that was set elegantly and reached for a spoon when the utensils started shaking and sparks came out of his finger tips. He closed his fist quickly and it stopped.

"Maybe you should get some rest. Or have the doctors have a look at you?" His assistants asked.

"Later. Right now I have business to attend to. A deal that needs closing."

"Sir, I've always wondered. Why Sue? You can have any other woman in the world."

"That's just it. Because I could have any other woman."

At the Facility

Reed, Sue, and Ben were all sitting at a table laughing and reminiscing old memories. Ben was laughing when his stomach started making noises. He put a hand on his chest and started breathing deeply. It was so loud that one of the nurses turned out of surprise.

"Wow." Sue muttered.

"You okay Ben?" Reed asked.

"Had shrimp. I guess I better got lie down." He said and got up. "Excuse me." He said as he walked out. Sue and Reed looked at each other awkwardly.

"Are you feeling better?" Reed asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better, thanks."

"Good, that's uh…good." Sue laughed.

"You always had a way with words." They were quiet for a while when Sue looked at her watch. "Oh…I've got to…go meet Victor."

"I'm really happy for you and Victor." Reed blurted out. Sue had a flash of annoyance then covered it up quickly.

"Your really happy with me and Victor?" She asked.

"Yeah, I can tell your enjoying the best part of our relationship." Sue looked confused so Reed added on. "Passion. For science."

Sue looked like she was about to laugh and slap Reed at the same time. "Your such a dork. You never got it."

"What did I say?"

"And you never will unless it's explained to you in quantum physics." She continued.

"I was just saying I was-"

"It's been two years and all you can say is that your happy for me and some other guy? Victor's a lot of things. But at least he's not afraid to fight for what he wants." She trailed off as she started to fade off. "It's nice to be seen, to be heard. Look at me." she ordered to Reed who was looking away. Reed looked up and saw nothing but Sue's clothes, and her accessories.

Reed's eyes widened. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?! Look at me!" She ordered again.

"Sue look at your hands!" He shouted. Sue looked at her hands and jumped. She knocked over a bottle of wind. Reed reached for it and his arm extended to grab it, almost as if it was rubber. Sue and Reed both stared at his hand as he pulled it back and placed it on the table. Sue started to reappear and Johnny ran in, naked except for a pink jacket tied around his waist. He looked excited.

"Hey guys! You are never going to believe what just happened to me!" He caught their stares and looked down. "What? I can explain this."

With Victor

He was sitting alone by the fire place and ran his hand through his hair. In his hand was a clump of hair. He was shocked and ran over to the mirror. When he grabbed the metal mirror the lights flickered. He did it again with the same reaction.

With Katherine

"We need to restrain her completely. Get those metal restraints on her wrists. Then come outside and completely lock down this room. She is highly dangerous." A doctor said. One of the nurses looked at him and then the delicate looking girl on the bed.

"Are you sure? She is just a girl. Barely 19." She asked. The doctor nodded. The nurses sighed and did what they were told. They immediately walked out and left completely shutting down the room so that no one but the Doctors could get in. Katherine was still breathing heavily and trying to thrash around. Her nails, which the doctors were forced to cut slowly grew back in. Her mid back length hair grew to hip length and her chocolate brown eyes gained gold speckles on the iris. She got a slightly curvier figure and her skin color went to a slightly bronzer shade. Her eyes flew open and she surveyed the room.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked as she noticed the restraints. "Let me out!" She shouted and tugged on them. They snapped open. "Well, those were really weak." She smiled as she got the rest of her limbs free. She walked over to the door and pressed a button expecting the door to open. It blinked red and made a buzzer noise. Katherine growled and reeled a fist back. "Open you stupid door!" She shouted and punched it. The door flew off it's hinges and crashed into the wall. "Man, these things are weak. Victor needs to spring for some new tech." She shrugged. She was about to walk out but stopped herself. "Oh right clothes."

In Ben's room, which was just above hers, he was hunched over the sink and making weird noises, while he breathed heavily.

With the Others

"It's got to be the cloud. It fundamentally altered our DNA." Sue said as she, Reed and Johnny walked down the hallway.

"I'm not ready to make that kind of leap." Reed said. Johnny was behind them snapping his fingers. Every time he did so his finger would turn on fire.

"Guys check this out!" They turned and watched him snap his fingers.

"Now picture that…but everywhere! It was…everywhere! What?" Johnny asked.

"The cloud has fundamentally altered our DNA." Reed admitted.

"Cool! And you know what I think I was flying!" Johnny cheered.

"If what we say is true then we have to get to Ben and Katherine." Reed said.

On the way there Johnny was doing his snapping thing. "Stop it Johnny." Sue said annoyed. Johnny kept doing it. "Johnny." She said in a warning tone. Again Johnny chose to ignore her. Sue whirled around and faced her brother, clearly feed up. "Cut it out! Alright?"

"Alright." Johnny agreed in a sarcastic tone.

"God!" Sue muttered.

"God!" Johnny copied in a childish tone.

"What is wrong with you?!" Sue asked annoyed.

Johnny held up his arms. "What?"

Reed, who had been trying to get into Ben's room while the siblings were calling looked over. "Sue! Do you know the code?" Sue nodded and walked over to the door.

Reed looked inside and noticed the monitors on the wall going berserk. The bed that Ben was laying on started bending before it completely broke all together, making a loud crash. Johnny and Reed starting banging on the doors as Sue tried every combination she knew. "Hey! Ben you alright?!" Reed called out.

Johnny started looking around the hallways trying to find someone. "Hey! Does anyone have keys to these doors?!" Reed paused and looked at his hands, an idea formulating in his head. "Just break the glass it can't be that thick." Johnny spoke.

Reed bent down on his knee and put his fingertips against the door, causing it to stretch impossibly under the doorframe and onto the other side of the room. Johnny and Sue looked on silently as Reed's right arm stretched on the other side of the door to unlock it, before he slowly pulled his hand back out, and into its normal position. Johnny stared at him for a few seconds before speaking. "That's just gross." A banging noise in Ben's room caused everyone to rush inside and see a gaping hole in the wall.

"Ben?" Reed called out.

Johnny spotted something and ran toward the hole pointing outside. "Look! Look, look, look! What is that?" He asked pointing to an orangish looking figure as it ran off into the night.

"Get back here!" A voice called out from down the hall. Everyone turned around in time to see Kathy turn into the room, a bit wobbly, dressed in a mini skirt and a tank top that both seemed to fit a bit tight on the girl. She turned into the room and hung onto the doorframe holding her head.

"Kathy!" Reed called out surprised that his sister looked different. Kathy looked up and smiled seeing Reed.

"Reed! Sue! Johnny…What's with the jacket?" She asked confused walking in the room slowly.

"Why? You like what you see?" He smirked.

Kathy rolled her eyes. "Not particularly."

Sue looked at the girl with concern. "Kathy what happened to you? Are you okay?" She asked going over to help her up.

Kathy nodded. "I'm fine."

Johnny stared at Kathy for a few seconds. "Then why do you look different?"

"What do you mean?"

"I MEAN that your hair is longer, your nails look perfect even though the doctors cut them, your skin tone is bronze now, there are golden flecks in your eyes and now you've got curves in ALL the right places." Johnny listed off.

Reed looked at Johnny like he wanted to slug Johnny and Sue looked like she was about to slap him in the back of the head. "Johnny!" Sue warned.

"What?"

"That's my sister!" Reed spoke.

Kathy looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What's going on?" Victor asked walking into the room and seeing the destruction. "What happened in here?"

Sue stiffened slightly. "Victor. Are you feeling alright?"

Victor waved it off. "Fine, it's just few scrapes."

Reed looked around. "Ben did this. He has had an adverse reaction to exposure from the cloud."

Sue nodded. "We all have different, um, symptoms. But Kathy's only seems to be her change in appearance." She motioned to the girl who she was keeping an arm around. She looked sheepish before speaking again. "Victor, I should have-"

"Just find him." Victor cut her off before walking out of the room. Sue clamped her mouth.

"There she is!" A doctor called out turning into Ben's room. They were each holding needles and a straitjacket. Kathy backed up so she was hiding behind Reed.

"Get away from me!" She shouted.

"What's going on here?" Reed asked.

One of the doctors stepped forward. "Katherine Richards is still supposed to be undergoing tests. Her condition still hasn't stabilized! The restraints which bound her to the bed have been broken and the door to her room is laying on the ground, from being ripped off it's hinges!"

Everyone looked to Kathy shocked. "What?! I didn't do it! And I swear if any of you come near me with that then I will kick all of your butts out that hole in the wall!" She threatened. The doctors all flinched backwards, obviously afraid of the young girl. Johnny stepped behind Kathy and put his hands on her shoulders, startling the girl.

"Well gentlemen, as you can see we are all up and running, and Kathy here, seems to be in a healthy condition. If I were you, I'd do what she says, because if she IS healthy and you come at her with that…you'll regret it."

The doctors thought about it for a second before sighing and turning to leave. Kathy slapped Johnny's hands from her shoulders. "Don't touch me…but thanks." She smiled slightly.

Johnny smiled too. "Okay, so does anyone have any ideas where the big guy is heading?" Reed looked around and saw a picture of Ben and Debbie on the ground. He sighed.

"He's going home."


	3. Thing

**A/N: Here's chapter three! Sorry for the wait!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**Ben Thing**

There was a break in at a store in Brooklyn for men with needs for plus sized clothes. No sooner a bulky man with orange rock like hands picked up the reciever for a phone booth.

He growled looking at the numbers. "Aw you gotta be kidding me." He attempted. He pressed numerous buttons at once and the dial tone sounded. "Stupid buttons!" He shouted clearing the numbers. "Hello operator?"

A phone rang in an apartment building. A light, in the window on the top floor with a yellow and blue welcome home banner hanging below the roof, turned on and a woman answered the phone.

"_Hello?"_

"Debs?" The man spoke.

"_Ben? Is that you? You sound sick?"_

Ben continued talking. "Hey, I need you to come outside for a second."

"_Outside? You home baby?" _She asked looking out the window, and noting the frame of Ben in a long brown trench coat and brown hat standing by the phone booth. She smiled and leaned against the window, looking outside. _"I've got a surprise for you."_

Ben laughed. "Yeah, and I got a little one for you too."

A few minutes later Debbie came out of her apartment and across the street towards Ben. She was wearing only a small night dress and a white robe. "Ben?" She asked looking around. She spotted Ben and started to get closer.

"Don't come any closer."

"Ben, what's wrong?" Debbie asked crossing her arms, feeling the night chill.

"Remember when we used to say, together forever, no matter what?"

"Yeah…baby your scaring me." Debbie spoke.

Ben came out from the shadows of a tree and pulled off his hat, looking up to face Debbie. Her face contorted with horror. "Oh my God."

Ben saw her reaction and tried to calm her down. "Debs, it's me. It's still me."

Debbie shook her head, backing away, tears brimming in her eyes. "No…" She muttered.

Ben walked toward her, extending an arm. "It was the accident. Let me explain-"

"No! Don't, don't touch me!" Debbie shouted running across the street, nearly getting hit by a car in the process. Ben looked on shocked as people started shouting and pointing at Ben. He quickly put his hat back on and ran off.

The Next Morning

Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Kathy were all seated in the back seat of a cab, heading onto the Brooklyn bridge. Well…almost everyone was properly seated. Seeing as only three people could fit in the back of a cab, and the driver wasn't the nicest, Kathy was seated on top of Johnny's lap, pouting extremely.

"And, I had to sit on his lap why?" She asked for the umpteenth time.

"Because, there wasn't another seat or seatbelt for you." Reed reminded her again.

"And Sue, couldn't switch with me why?"

"It would be creepy. Sorry Kathy." Sue apologized.

"And I couldn't sit on Reed's lap why?"

"Because…well Johnny had just suggested you sit on his lap, and I didn't bother to argue."

Kathy turned her head slightly and glared at the man sitting underneath her smirking. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "We have to be safe now. Wouldn't want you to get hurt because you don't have a seat belt."

Kathy growled but looked settled for looking out the window. "Let's just find Ben."

Ben was sitting on the top of the Brooklyn bridge with his head in his heads. "Oh yeah Ben, a few days in space. It'll be great." He mocked Reed. A pigeon landed on Ben's shoulder. He looked over at it and smiled. "Hey little guy. Your not afraid of me are ya?"

The pigeon flew away, showing the white glob of poop on his shoulder. Ben growled and looked up where the bird flew away. "Perfect." He muttered as he whipped off the nasty substance.

A man wearing a business suit walked over to the edge, a few feet away from where Ben was sitting. He tossed his briefcase over the edge of the bridge. Ben looked up and noticed. "Hey." Ben muttered as the man was about to step off. He saw Ben and freaked out, slowly moving away from the edge of the bridge. "You think you got problems, you take a good look pal." The man started moving onto the beam above all the traffic. "Hey, don't go out there."

Ben sighed as the man didn't listen and got up, following his steps. "Now come closer." The men stepped away from Ben. "That's further…now come closer."

The man didn't listen, forcing Ben to come onto the beam as well. It started to bend under his weight. "I said stop!" Ben shouted. The man slipped and grabbed onto the wire underneath the beam, before he lost his grip and fell into the traffic.

Ben, jumped down and in front of him, when a big white truck came speeding down towards the two. Ben braced himself as the truck collided, bending around Ben's body, and jolting to a stop.

Cars piled up and a truck with gas canisters turned over, releasing the contents. People on the top, walking part of the bridge ran to see what was happening. Traffic backed up halting all traveling.

"What happened?" Reed asked as everyone got out of the car.

"Johnny, remove your hands. I don't need a seat belt now." Kathy growled. Johnny removed his hands quickly, and looked ahead at the scene.

"Calm down." Ben tried calming down the man who had inadvertently caused all the damage. Ben sighed, giving up. "You wanna be scared? FINE!" He roared as the man ran away.

Cars were banged up, and fires were starting in the hoods. People stumbled about, trying to help others out of their cars. Ben noticed the driver of the truck looking disoriented.

Johnny, Sue, Reed, and Kathy all tried to get to the scene, but police officers were barricading the road, holding people back. "What do we do now?" Sue asked.

"We can't get passed them." Kathy shook her head.

"But you can." Reed smiled looking at Sue.

Ben pulled the driver side door of the truck off it's hinges. "Sorry about the truck pal. A little help here?" Ben asked as he tried to carry the man out of the seat, but he was still buckled in. "Could you hit the button sir?"

"It's stuck."

Sue closed her eyes, focusing on turning invisible. Soon her body was invisible, but her clothes weren't. "Sue, your clothes. Lose them." Reed reminded her.

"Oh, right." Sue spoke as she started to pull off her jacket and shirt. To those watching this, seeing air removing clothes from air must've been a shock.

"This is so wrong." Johnny muttered. Sue was about to undo her bra strap when she turned visible again. People gasped and pointed. "Aw jeez." Johnny spoke turning away.

Sue looked down and quickly covered herself with her arms. Reed looked at her. "Wow, you've been working out."

"Shut up!" Sue shouted. Kathy quickly walked over to the pile of clothes on the ground, and grabbed Sue's jacket. She opened it up horizontally and put it around the back of Sue, and stepped in front of her so she pretty much pressed against the front of Sue, while using the jacket to cover the back. "Sweetie you're a life saver." Sue whispered.

"No problem."

Ben pulled the steering wheel in the truck out and completely picked up the chair from the truck, and turned around, still keeping it in the air.

"Freeze!" A police officer yelled. He, and a few others had guns drawn, aiming at Ben. They all looked slightly confused at what to do. "Um…just put the man in the seat down!"

Ben was about to say something when the police officer shouted out. "Do it!"

The truck driver and Ben shared a look while Ben put the seat down.

"Any more ideas Reed?! Why don't you strip down and have a hundred people stare at you!" She shouted as she turned invisible again.

"Sue." Kathy whispered. Sue looked at her hands and nodded.

"Oh, right." Kathy dropped the jacket and stepped aside as Sue removed the rest of her clothes.

"I'm going to need therapy." Johnny muttered.

"Come, on let's get out of here." Reed whispered to Johnny and Kathy.

"Excuse me. Coming through." Sue spoke as she elbowed her way to the front undetected.

Johnny scooped up her clothes quickly, before following the Richards siblings to the front, around where the stunned police officers stood confused about someone talking, but not being there.

"Alright…now just back away from him." The police officer shouted as Ben started backing away with his hands up. A cable sparked and Ben turn and ran, as a fire rang out, hitting him, but managing only to chip his rocky exterior.

A New York fire truck came down the side of the Brooklyn bridge, heading toward the scene of the accident.

"I still can't believe you made me do that." Sue muttered as She finished putting on her clothes.

"We got through didn't we? Just find Ben." Reed spoke. He started weaving through cars, while Johnny stayed by Sue. Kathy had climbed over a black car and hopped onto an empty cab, near the edge, and a bus load of people.

She looked at the people inside that looked scared. "Hey, is everyone okay?" She called through the window. "Why isn't the door open?"

"The bus drivers knocked out, and the controls are jammed!" A man shouted.

Sue climbed onto the top of a cab and looked around. "Ben! Ben?!" Ben came out from behind a car at Sue calling him. Sue gasped. "Oh my god." Reed and Kathy turned and saw Ben and froze. Johnny looked at Ben but his attention was drawn to a thirteen year old girl who was trapped in a circle of cars, looking scared.

"Mom?" She asked. There was a tank of gas by the car, where a fire had just reached. It made an hissing noise that got Johnny's attention. He climbed up the car and jumped down next to the girl, shielding her as the car exploded, sending fire and cars everywhere.

Sue, standing on the top of the cab reeled her hands back shielding her face, as a shield appeared covering fire so it couldn't spread or harm anyone else. Sue looked genuinely confused as she pushed her hands forward, exhausted as the fires died down.

Ben ducked under the cab which had flew over his head and landed somewhere along the road. The fire man driving the truck, which unfortunately was heading right into the explosion, tried to turn it out of the way of the flying car. The end of truck swerved and collided into the wires holding up the bridge. It broke the wires and went through. Skidding halfway off the bridge heading towards the scene.

Reed looked over and his eyes grew wide. "KATHY!" He shouted. Ben looked out from behind the car, Sue looked over from her vantage point on the cab, and Johnny looked over from shielding the girl from the flames that were diminishing. The fire truck was skidding right towards the nineteen year old who was standing on cab. Kathy looked over and exhaled sharply.

The end of the truck rammed into the cab and knocked into the bus. Kathy was thrown off balance, and jumped backwards, landing on the railing. The bus hit the railing, and started to balance on the edge, and the fire truck skidded a few more feet. Unfortunately for Kathy, she was in the range of the end of the fire truck, and got smacked by it.

The force threw her over the railing and plummeting down to the water. "KATHY! NO!" Reed shouted trying to run over. There was a loud audible smack as Kathy's frame hit the water.

"Stay here. Okay?" Johnny told the girl as the flames died down. He was about to run over to the edge of bridge when Sue ran over and intercepted him.

"Johnny stay away from the edge!"

"Sue, but Kathy-"

"That part of the bridge is unstable!" Sue looked at Johnny, tears brimming in her eyes. "Johnny…at this height…there is no way-"

"No. It can't be…" Johnny muttered breathing heavily.

The fire truck started tipping over as firefighters tried to climb down towards their comrade who was hanging on to the bottom of the truck. It was about to go completely over before Ben grabbed the fender on the truck and started pulling it down. "Oh…jeez." He exhaled sharply as he struggled to pull the truck back up, his feet grinding in the ground.

The man who was holding onto the bottom of the truck lost his grip and started falling towards the water. He jolted to a stop and, confused, look up to see Reed stretched out over the bridge like a rubber band hanging onto the man. "I've gotcha." Reed said as he started to pull himself back together, literally. He picked the man up and back onto the safety of the bride.

Ben pulled the truck so it was more than halfway on the bridge, when the bus full of tourists started to teeter over the bridge.

"Look out!" Someone shouted pointing at the bus. Everyone whirled around in time to see it tip over and start to fall off the side. Ben had to ignore the bus as he pulled the rest of the fire truck up and onto the bridge. He sighed in relief, but soon cringed as he heard the sound of water and smacking metal.

Sue, Johnny, and Reed all met up by the spot where Kathy and the bus had gone over while Ben still stood by the truck. Police officers surrounded Ben, weapons drawn. "This is the police! Get down on the ground!" Someone with a bullhorn shouted.

"Don't shoot he's a hero!" A random woman called out.

"Get down on the ground now!" The police officer shouted again. Everyone began applauding and the firefighter whom Ben had saved forced the head police officer to lower his weapon.

Reed was looking over the edge of the bridge, tears down his face. Sue was looking away and Johnny looked hyper active. "Come on! What are we waiting for! We have to go get her!"

Reed looked at Johnny and shook his head. "From this distance…there is no possible way that she would have…would have-" Reed couldn't even finish his sentence.

Throughout the midst of the applause and people, Debbie elbowed her way forward. Ben, noticed her and started to approach. She shook her head and took a step back. She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger and took it off, placing it on the ground and walking away.

Ben walked over, causing people to step back in fear, and bent down. He attempted to pick up the ring, but his fingers were so huge, it wouldn't allow him to close on such a small fragile item. Sue and Johnny looked at Ben, feeling sympathy for the poor guy.

Reed reached down and picked up the ring. He placed it in Ben's hand. He faced him seriously. "I swear to you. I will do everything in my power, til there's not a breath in me…your going to be Ben again."

The sounds of cheers and shouts from over the railing caught everyone's attention. "HOLY SHIT HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" A very familiar voice shouted.

"The bus!" Someone shouted. Everyone looked and saw the top of the blue and white bus peeking over the railing. Soon the entire bus, except the wheels were visible.

"HOLY CRAP! I'M FLYING…AND I'M CARRYING A BUS…AND I'M FLYING!!!" The bus went up higher to show a wet, but still living Kathy, flying and carrying the enormous bus full of people.

"Kathy!" Reed shouted. Everyone was looking at the girl shocked before the exploded in applauds and cheers. The crowd made a spot that Kathy touched down in, and slowly lowered the bus down, so it was on top of her. Everyone ran out of the bus and onto the ground. As soon as everyone was off, Kathy rolled out from underneath the bus.

Reed and Ben, being the closest ran over and hugged the girl. "Kathy…how?" Reed asked.

Kathy looked confused. "I have no clue whatsoever." Sue ran over and hugged the girl.

"I'm so glad you are okay." She smiled.

"Move it or lose it sis!" Johnny shouted. He ran over and scooped Kathy up into a huge, lifting her off the ground. "Your alive!" He laughed.

Kathy wormed out of Johnny's grasp. "I'm okay Johnny. Now what happened to us?"

In the Medical Tent

Ben was sitting on a table fingering the engagement ring in his hands that Debbie had left. Johnny was sitting next to him while Reed was pacing back and forth. Police officers and firefighters were looking at the five inside the tent with wonder and confusion.

"I told you I felt fine." Sue said as a medic slipped a blood pressure cuff off of her wrist. Kathy was sitting by Reed wearing a firefighters sweatshirt that one of the men had given her, seeing as she was soaked. She held her head in her hands.

"Where are your ears?" Johnny asked looking at Ben. Ben turned his head annoyed to Johnny who looked innocent and shrugged.

A firefighter came in and over to the group. "Hey, there are some folks outside who want to speak with you."

Reed shook his head. "We're not going public with this. We're scientists not celebrities."

"It's too late son. Look." The fireman spoke as he turned on the TV.

"_When a New York ladder truck became part of the tragedy…" _A scene of the five and what happened earlier flashed on the screen with a caption on the bottom reading **Fantastic Five**. "See? That's what they're calling you. The Fantastic Five."

"Cool!" Johnny said heading out of the tent.

"Wait, where do we think we're going?" Kathy asked.

"I'm going to go talk to them." He responded simply.

"No, we should think this through." Sue spoke.

"That's great…brainstorm." Johnny said as he walked out. "Where is it? Left?"

Everyone got up and ran after him. "Get back here right now! Johnny!" Sue called after him. When the hordes or reporters saw Johnny they all started asking questions at once. Kathy grabbed her ears and whimpered.

"Which one of you is the leader?" The fireman asked.

"That would be me." Johnny said striking a heroic pose.

"No really." Sue pushed Reed forward. "Alright son, your on."

Reed cleared his throat and began talking, silencing the crowd. "During our recent mission to the Von Doom space station…we were exposed to a Z anit identified radioactive energy."

"What happened on the bridge?!"

"Is it true you can stretch?!"

"Is it true you can fly?!" A reporter asked Johnny.

Kathy laughed a bit and whispered. "I know I can."

"You know I'm working on that, it's actually pretty difficult-" Sue cut of Johnny before he said anything else.

"No actually, we do not know more than you do at this point."

With Victor

"Uh sir…Larry King just cancelled. Apparently there is a bigger story." Victors assistant spoke.

Victor turned around and switched the channel and saw Sue speaking on TV with the others. _"We will be going directly to our lap to diagnose or symptoms."_

With the Others

"Symptoms? Is this some kind of disease?" A reporter asked.

Johnny stepped forward. "No, no. This isn't a disease. If having special powers is a disease then yeah we have it bad."

"Excuse me, that _thing_ doesn't look so heroic." A reporter spoke.

"Ben Grimm is a genuine American Hero." Reed spoke up for him.

"What he means is every team needs a mascot." Johnny put in causing the crowd to laugh. "A new day is dawning! The day of the Fantastic Five."

Everyone started talking again. "Look!" Reed tried getting everyone attention but to no avail. Kathy, who had been quietly squeezing her eyes and ears shut as tightly as possible growled.

"QUIET!" She bellowed causing everyone to silence immediately. "Your giving me a headache." She spoke in a quieter tone. "Now listen to Reed and shut up."

"Thanks Kathy. We went into space to understand DNA. Cure diseases, save lives. Well now it's our DNA, our disease, and our lives on the line. Thank you, no more questions."


	4. Back To The Baxter Building

**A/N: Thanks for all the nice comments! And here is chapter 4 for the nice comments! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**Back To The Baxter Building**

Victor was sitting in a meeting room, surrounded by business men. Ned turned off the TV screen of the others and looked to Victor. "Is this how you turn things around Victor? These freaks on the front page. Your company in the obituaries."

Victor looked nonchalant and waved his hands. "I was planning to use the publicity to-"

"The boards in agreement. The banks lost enough." Ned cut him off.

Victor, losing his façade slowly sat forward. "Wait a minute-"

"It's too late Victor."

Victor sat up angry and irritated. His nonchalance faded. "Do you know…how much money I've invested in this company?"

"Victor stop, this isn't a negotiation, it's a notification. We're pulling out."

With the Others

Sue, Johnny, and Reed were all seated in a police car heading towards the Baxter building as Ben and Kathy, who had opted with riding with Ben were in a police van in the back. They pulled up to the building where hordes of people where behind police barricades, to protect people going into the building.

Johnny got out first, and looked around at the crowd soaking in the attention. Sue and Reed quickly got out of the police car and walked into the Baxter building as Kathy and Ben stepped off the van. As soon as Ben was off the van went up significantly, no longer under the amount of weight it was before.

"Is all that for you Dr. Richards?" Jimmy the doorman asked as Reed and Sue walked in.

"I'm afraid so." Reed muttered.

Johnny smirked as he opened his arms up and put them in the air, obviously loving the attention. Kathy rolled her eyes and flicked his arm. Johnny winced and grabbed his arm. "Cut the crap Johnny and let's get inside."

Johnny shrugged and put an arm over her shoulder before she shrugged it off and stalked inside. "Come on Ben smile. They wanna love you. Say hi." Johnny suggested to Ben, pointing to a bunch of kids.

Ben turned to the children, who quickly froze in shock. "Uh…don't do drugs." He warned before going inside. The kids looked scared still as everyone applauded at the message.

"Welcome back to the Baxter Dr. Richards. I've got the usual for you." Billy their elderly and kind mail man said handing Reed a stack of Final Notice envelopes. He then looked to Kathy and smiled. "And I've got the usual for you too Miss Richards. I see your still quiet the popular young lady." He laughed handing Kathy a stack of envelopes before walking away. "Good to have you all back."

Johnny and Sue looked over Reed's shoulder and rose an eyebrow. Reed shrugged. "We had a tough year."

"Yeah, like nine straight." Ben snorted as they all walked into the elevator.

"And you?" Johnny asked pointing to the envelopes in Kathy's hands.

"Scrap paper." Kathy muttered.

Reed laughed. "Kathy has been getting letters from NASA requesting her for a junior scientist position, and pilot for years."

"Only now on top of it she's getting love letters." Ben snickered.

Kathy's face burned red as she glared at Ben. "Shut up."

There was a groaning of metal and it was still. Johnny looked around. "Either we're moving really fast or not at all."

A bell rang out and a message light up in bright red letters. **MAXIMUM WEIGHT CAPACITY.** Everyone looked to Ben, who sighed. "I'll take the stairs."

Kathy sighed and tossed her letters to Reed. "Hold up Uncle Ben, I'm coming too." She said as she ran out of the elevator after him.

The doors closed and the elevator started to ride up. "How come Ben can't turn it on and off like we can?" Johnny asked.

Reed shrugged. "I don't know. That's what we're here to find out."

Sue nodded. "I mean if it happened to him-"

"What? We wont be able to turn it on or off either? That'll save time." Johnny laughed.

"You really don't want to walk around on fire for the rest of your life do you?" Sue asked Johnny.

"Is that as trick question?" Johnny retorted.

"Grow up." Sue shook her head.

"What? Am I the only one that thinks this is cool?" Johnny smiled. The elevator opened and all three emptied out.

"We should stay here until we define the extent of our changes. Then come up with a way to reverse the effects." Reed said tossing both stacks of envelopes on the table by the elevator. Johnny grabbed the stack that Kathy was given and stuck it in his jacket.

He then looked over at the amount of equipment and science stuff that invaded the space of Reed's "living area". There computers and machines of various kinds kept in a neat order. A huge circle of clear space where Reed and Kathy did most of their experiments was visible. A catwalk that wrapped around the circular shape of the top of the Baxter building lead to numerous other rooms. "Whoa."

"Believe it or not he and Kathy live here." Sue snickered at Johnny's reaction.

"But I have to warn you it'll get a little crowded in some areas." Reed called out from where he turned on the switch for the lights. He came back over to the two Storm children, rolling up his sleeves. "Well, what do you think?"

"I don't know Reed, I think you may be taking your work home with you." Johnny spoke.

Reed laughed. "Come on, let me show you where you'll be staying." He started walking toward the catwalk.

"Busy guy." Johnny nudged Sue as he followed after Reed.

Twenty Minutes Later

Sue had just gotten out of the shower, and was starting to put away her clothes in the drawers of the spare room by the one Johnny was given. Which coincidentally, and much to the girls dismay, was next door to Kathy's.

She put down one of her pink pajamas and noticed a scrap book in the drawer labeled **Memories**. Sue opened it up and saw article clippings about Reed winning the science fair, a new invention of his, more of his successes and even a few articles about Kathy and her experiments and triumphs. Sue turned the page and there were pictures of her and Reed everywhere. She smiled at them, recalling all the good times they had.

"God I was so worried about you." Victor said from the door of the room. Sue jumped and shoved the book back in the drawer quickly.

"Victor. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call." She spoke before heading over to her bags and folding more clothes to pack into the drawer.

Victor strolled across the room and to the drawer. "Please no apologizes." He picked out one of Sue's sweatpants. "I've arranged for your things to be moved to one of my condos. They have round the clock care."

"Thank you, that's very generous of you, but I think I should stay here with my brother." Sue said as Victor put the sweatpants back in Sue's bag. "Until we get a handle on things."

"Susan, I really think you should have my doctors take a look at you." Victor insisted.

Sue started to look uncomfortable when Reed walked in the doorway. "Victor, what are you doing here?" He asked surprised at his visit.

Victor looked from Sue to Reed.

"I was starting to wonder the same thing." There was an awkward silence before Victor spoke again. "How much do you know about what happened to you?"

"Not much." Reed said putting the pile of linens that he was brining Sue on the nightstand. "We have to run tests to see the extent of our changes."

Victor nodded. "You tell me how that goes. We're all in this together now." He spoke before walking out and towards the elevator.

Reed walked out after him. "Victor wait. I'm sorry the mission didn't go as planned."

Victor turned around. "Didn't go as planned? It was a catastrophe. You ruined the lives of five people."

"In all due respect, we're both to blame here. I told you to abort."

"Abort? I put my company, my name, billions of dollars on the line. I will not let you make me look like a fool."

Reed sighed. "Victor if we can understand it-"

"I don't want to understand it! This isn't one of your science projects! I just want to fix it. Fast." Victor yelled. The lights flickered as he shouted, which Reed took note of.

There was a stomping noise. "Is there a problem here?" Ben asked from behind Reed. Kathy was standing on the catwalk on the opposite side of the room glaring at Victor with malice. Victor looked from Reed, to Ben, to Kathy then back to Reed.

"No, no problem Ben." Victor spoke as the elevator dinged, signaling the arrival. "Just pay your damn electric bill and get to work on finding the cure." Victor whispered. Kathy hopped over the railing and landed, noiselessly, and in perfect balance.

"Do you need someone to show you to the door?" Kathy asked with venom.

"No need." Victor shot back quickly, and in a calm tone before walking into the elevator. The doors closed and Victor punched the wall in his anger, causing a dent. He looked at his hand shocked and saw that there was a layer of metal where the skin on his knuckles were.

A Few Hours Later

**Johnathon Storm **

Johnny was standing in a metal box, waiting for his tests to begin. Kathy walked by with a sandwich in her hands and noticed Johnny in there, while Reed and Sue were up in a glass area for safety. She started laughing. "Okay, I totally like this sleeping arrangement better than him sleeping next door."

"Ha ha! Very funny!" Johnny mocked from inside the box.

Reed pressed a button for the speaker. _"Kathy, come up here for your own safety. We don't know how hot Johnny can get."_

Kathy shrugged. "Alright, but I'm betting on not that hot."

"Watch it!" Johnny shouted after her.

"_Okay, you can start Johnny."_

Johnny, inside of the box set his hand on fire. He looked at it and moved his arm down, as it spread completely engulfing his body in fire, burning the fabric off of his body. "His heating up from his core." Reed spoke looking at the monitor showing a heat signature of Johnny.

Sue nodded looking at the screen. "And his vitals are completely normal."

**Benjamin Grimm**

"If we're going to identify the cause of mutations, we're going to have to isolate your iconomate DNA to locate positional genomes." Reed spoke putting a machine by Ben's stomach.

"Huh?" Ben asked looking to Sue who was getting out a few other things.

"We have to do a physical in order to see what got zapped." She simplified.

"Ohh why didn't you say so?"

Reed gasped. "His internal organs are completely solid."

Both doctors looked at Ben who looked worried. "How bad is it? You know I used to smoke."

**Katherine Richards**

Kathy was sitting in a chair waiting for Reed and Sue, to figure out what test they were going to do. "We should just do a physical first." Sue suggested. Reed nodded, as Sue got out a stethoscope. "Okay, now just take a deep, deep breath in and breath out through your mouth."

Kathy nodded and inhaled as much air as possible through her nose and breathed out through her mouth calmly. It sent a gust of air, that blew back a table that was in front of her.

Reed, Sue, and Kathy all looked stunned at the table. "Oh, my god. I am SO sorry." Kathy apologized rapidly.

**Susan Storm**

Susan had two wires on her chest as Reed looked at her through a circular machine which allowed him to see her when she was invisible. "It's not invisibility per say, you should be able to bend light around other objects, even people. If you could control your emotional state better."

Sue rose an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I'm saying if you had a little more self control, you could locate the trigger." Sue glared at him and crossed her arms. "Can you remember what your exact emotions were on the bridge?"

"Anger…rage…frustration." Sue spoke narrowing her gaze at Reed who was oblivious.

"Good, can you find a way to duplicate those emotions, by a memory or something?" Reed asked. Sue smiled and narrowed her eyes looking at Reed.

"I'm sure I can come up with something."

**Benjamin Grimm**

"Feel anything?" Sue asked as she started hitting Ben's knee with a reflex hammer.

"Okay." Reed spoke getting an industrial hammer, and banging it into Ben's knee. Ben kicked up his knee and it hit a chair, sending it flying across the room and shattering above the catwalk.

**Johnathon Storm**

The degrees ticked by as Johnny turned hotter with each passing second. "Pretty good night light." Kathy laughed.

Reed looked at the numbers worried. "He's hotter than I anticipated." He pressed the button for the speaker. _"Alright Johnny back it down."_

"I can go hotter!" Johnny shouted from inside the box.

"_Johnny just back it down."_ Sue spoke.

Johnny, being the stubborn person he was concentrated so the heat increased tremendously. _"Johnny back it down right now!"_ Reed shouted as he shielded his eyes. Sue quickly followed suit and Kathy just blinked.

"_Johnny!"_ Sue shouted when there was no reaction.

"_Turn it down Storms!" _Kathy shouted.

Johnny started hovering off of the ground using the flames before Reed hit a big red button. Extinguisher fluid fired out at Johnny, taking out the flames. Johnny started laughing inside of the now melted box, where he was completely covered with foam. "What's new? You guys are cramping my style!"

"Johnny you were at four thousand Kelvin. Any hotter and your approaching Super Nova." Kathy warned.

"Sweet!" Johnny said.

"No, not sweet. That's the temperature of the sun." Sue chastised.

"Not only could you kill yourself, but you could set fire to earth's atmosphere and destroy all human life as we know it." Reed added on.

Johnny nodded inside of the box and gave them two thumbs up. "Got it. Super Nova. Bad."

"Just get cleaned up and out of there Johnny. We have to finish Kathy and Sue's tests." Reed spoke. "Kathy you first."

"Oh joy."

**Katherine Richards**

"This ought to be good." Johnny spoke. Everyone was sitting around watching the test that was about to be administered.

"Okay, Kathy, what I want you to do to start off, is jump off the catwalk and try to fly like you did back on the bridge, okay?" Reed asked.

Kathy nodded from her spot on the catwalk and sat on the railing. She closed her eyes and jumped off. She was about to hit the ground when she hovered in the air. Kathy smiled and opened her eyes noticing she was flying. "YEAH!" She cheered as she started to fly in circles, getting the hang of her new power. She landed on the ground and started clapping. "That was awesome!"

"Nice going Kathy!" Ben congratulated.

"Now, sweetie, we have another thing we need you to do, so we can finish up our tests." Sue spoke softly.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?"

Reed smiled and pointed to a machine above Kathy's head. It was one she was quiet familiar with. It was the strength testing machine used to test the durability of structures. "Your going to use that machine to see how much your able to carry."

"Crap." Kathy muttered as they started to lower the machine down. She put her arms up, ready to feel the pressure hundreds of pounds of weight on top of her.

"Ready Kathy?" Reed asked.

"Let it drop." Kathy squeezed her eyes shut. Reed pushed a button and the latch holding the huge machine up came down on Kathy, but the young girl kept it up without much problem. Reed increased the weight every few seconds trying to see if she was having any difficulties. "Okay, Reed you can crank it up a bit more than that."

"I am." Reed spoke shocked.

"Unbelievable." Sue breathed. Johnny and Ben walked over to see the amount of force on the girl and their jaws dropped.

"Really guys how much is this?" She asked as she started holding it up with one hand. She then replaced her hand back on as the weight increased slightly. Soon she was forced onto her knee as she tried to hold the remaining weight up. "Okay, now it's getting a bit more challenging." There was a groan of metal.

"That was the total limit." Reed exclaimed.

The machine re-latched itself and hoisted off the girls shoulders. "So what was it?" Kathy asked.

Johnny turned the computer screen around and pointed at the number on the screen. "100."

"Pounds? Wow that's pathetic." Kathy shook her head embarrassed.

"No…100 tons." Ben corrected.

Kathy stared at their shocked faces, then to the screen, then back again. "Oh crap."

**Susan Storm**

Sue concentrated on turning herself invisible and succeeded. "How's that coming?" Reed asked looking at Sue. A field of energy the size of Sue rushed out and knocked Reed back.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Sue asked as she helped him up, and started to pick up the papers on the ground. "I guess you must of thought that was some form of lady hostility."

"What in the world would give me that idea?" Reed asked. Kathy turned the corner, her hair wet and in a robe, to talk to Sue about something when Reed spoke up again. "I mean your broke up with me right?"

"Awkward…" Kathy whispered to herself and ran back outside heading towards the other rooms.

"Are you kidding?"

Reed shrugged. "I distinctly remember you walking out my door, ergo…"

"I was ready for the next step, you weren't. Ergo I walked." She mocked him.

"I think it was a little more complicated than that." Reed spoke.

"I just wanted to share an apartment. What was so complicated about that?"

Reed looked sheepish. "There were a lot of variables to consider."

"No there weren't. It was you and me. No variables to consider, no math to calculate. It was actually the simplest thing in the world. But like always Reed your head got in the way."

"No it didn't." Reed spoke.

"Then what was it?!" Sue asked her voice rising a bit. She caught herself and lowered it noticing Reed's expression. "Did you feel anything when I left? Do you feel anything right now?"

"Hey guys!" Johnny called out. Reluctantly the two turned to see Johnny and Kathy standing there. Kathy wearing a pair of Johnny's jeans and one of his shirts, and Johnny with burn marks in the jeans and shirt he was wearing. "I think we have a serious problem."

Reed looked at both of them confused. "Kathy, why are you wearing Johnny's clothes?"

"Well…"

A Few Minutes Earlier

Kathy had just taken a shower after her tests were finished and was getting dressed with her favorite pair of shorts and t-shirt. She put on her bra but noticed that it was very tight, same thing with the panties she had pulled on. "Oh PLEASE don't tell me the cosmic storm made me grow a cup size and made my ass grow bigger." Kathy turned to look in the mirror and nodded noticing a definetly change from her tiny frame. "Damn it." She muttered as she tried to get her t-shirt and shorts on. Much to her dismay, the clothes didn't fit her.

"Eh, I'll just ask Sue. She could help me." Kathy started walking over to where she knew Sue would be completing tests with Reed, hoping for the best. She turned the corner in time to hear Reed speak.

"I mean you broke up with me right?"

"Awkward…" She muttered quickly whirling around and heading back towards the rooms. "Well, Ben's clothes are all huge and would be like bed sheets on me. Maybe Reeds…" She thought about it then realized that her brother only ever had dressy clothes. She internally groaned as she realized who her final option was. "Oh God why?"

Johnny was lying in his room watching some TV when there was a knock at his door. Well…it was SUPPOSED to be a knock. After Kathy's knuckles came in contact with the door, her tiny fist when through the door. "Uh…I'd say come in, but I don't think it matters." Johnny laughed. Kathy opened the door and crossed her arms standing in front of him. Johnny sat up and gave her his full attention. "Hey there Kathy, and to what do I owe this pleasure? And we're lacking clothes I see." He noticed the red knee length robe she was wearing.

"Very funny Storms. My clothes don't fit me, and I really need something to wear. Can you spare something?"

Johnny pondered it a moment. "Possibly, but I wanted to ask you a question first."

Sighing Kathy nodded. "Okay, out with it."

Johnny smirked and produced a letter from behind his back. Kathy's eye's widened. "Whose Mike? He seems to really like you based on his asking you out. He says that 'you are like a goddess on earth'. Not that I can argue with him."

Kathy's face burned as she realized he was reading her mail. "Storms! That's not yours! That's ILLEGAL!"

"Yeah, yeah. Oh and this guy Ryan is a sap too." He produced all the letters that Kathy had received and started thumbing through them.

Kathy hung her head low. "They are people from my kickboxing class! And you know what? Forget it. I don't even know why I asked you in the first place." She muttered starting to head out the door.

"Hey Kathy." Johnny asked. Kathy turned around crossing her arms, only to get hit in the face by a black _Sum 41 _shirt. "Need jeans or sweatpants?"

Kathy blinked. "Jeans." She muttered as Johnny pulled out a pair of dark jeans.

"These are the smallest ones I have. They should be okay." Johnny looked and noticed the girls puzzled expression. "What? I may tease you but that doesn't mean I won't help you."

Kathy smiled. "Thanks Johnny." She then looked at his chest and snickered. "You getting a bit to hot?" She asked sarcastically. Johnny looked down and saw burn marks in his jeans and shirt and sighed.

"Looks like we're going to go have to bother Reed."


	5. Terrible News and Coping

**A/N: Thanks everyone for the awesome comments! I'd like to thank KitsPokePeople and LJSkywalker for the kind and considerate comments!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**Terrible News and Coping**

Victor was seated in his own lab, with his assistant. His hand was underneath a muscular and bone scanner. It beeped and words appeared on the screen. **METALLIC ALLOY DETECTED. **

"So what's the prognosis?" Victor asked.

"Your tissue, your organs. Your entire biophysical structure is changing. But every system is functioning somehow."

"Changing into?" Victor probed.

"I don't know. It's some kind of organic metallic alloy. It's stronger than titanium. Harder then diamonds."

Victor nodded. "Is there anyway to reverse the effects?"

"I don't know. I can't pretend to know what we're dealing with here. I have to notify the CDC."

"What?" Victor asked fearing what would happen if word leaked out into the press. He got up and walked over to the assistant.

"The Center for Disease Control."

"I know what it is." Victor clarified.

"Victor, we have no way to know if this thing can spread or if it's contagious. I have to notify-" He was cut off by Victor grabbing his neck and lifting him off the ground.

"That's terrible news." Victor spoke and tossed him into a glass cabinet where he stopped moving. "I think I'll get a second opinion."

Victor sat in a room, turning on a TV screen that showed Reed in a lap coat writing on three chalk boards, going through different formulas, wearing his second skin suit.

Kathy walked over holding a tray of sandwiches and got to work looking over his formulas and correcting any mistakes she found, and adding on other things. She was still wearing Johnny's clothes and had her hair up in a messy bun, her bangs falling out.

Reed tapped her on the shoulder as she looked over a few pages, using his ability to stretch. She looked up and he pointed to a section on the board. Kathy nodded and said something, but seeing as Victor didn't have the audio turned on he couldn't make it out. Soon Kathy left and returned with her own body suit that she had worn on the trip, and placed it under a microscope for Reed to analyze. After a few minutes big bold words appeared on the computer screen. **MOLECULES UNSTABLE**.

Twenty Minutes Later

"Our suits were exposed to the storm like us, and can transform like us." Reed spoke as Johnny came down the stairs dressed in his uniform. He and Sue were already downstairs with Ben who wasn't wearing the suits. "Turning invisible, changing size on demand, remaining impervious to flames, and…I'm not really sure what would Kathy's case be."

"Clothes tearing when flying at high speeds or lifting up very heavy pointy objects." Kathy spoke as she came down the stairs. "I still can't get used to these uniforms."

"You guys look like an 80's rock band." Ben snickered.

Sue, who was holding Ben's suit, looked at him and then the suit. "You know Ben, this material stretches, I'm sure we can find a way to make it fit."

"No thanks. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one of those." He snickered drinking out of a metal cup, that was still slightly bent.

Johnny was grinning. "I love these costumes. They're missing something though? A little spice." He started pretending to fight something when Reed spoke again.

"These aren't costumes."

"You can't use your powers in public." Sue chastised.

"You guys are worse than NASA." Johnny muttered walking away to go do something.

"Johnny." Sue said in a warning tone following closely behind.

Ben looked up snickering. "Maybe it's missing a utility belt."

An Hour Later

"I owe you one Sue. I don't want to have to keep using Johnny's clothes." Kathy smiled as she and Sue walked along a busy New York street. Kathy thought about it a minute then shrugged. "Though they were comfy."

Sue smiled. "You know you can borrow some of my clothes though right?"

Kathy nodded. "Yeah I know, but I don't think we wear the same sizes. Because I know that I was a size 2 jeans in juniors before the storm. And I didn't gain any weight, my butt just got bigger, and so did my hips. Same thing with my shirt sizes."

Sue nodded. "Ahh…so you'd rather wear baggy clothes that are comfy than clothes that are uncomfortable. Well, let's stop by and get a newspaper first so we know what's going on in the world." Sue said as they passed by a newspaper stand. Kathy noticed one with Sue's face on it and her eyes widened.

"Sue, look." She pointed.

Sue looked over and gasped. "Oh my God." The caption of the magazine read _'Who Does She Work For Now?'_.

"It's Sue Storm! It's the Invisible Woman." The person next to the two girls at the stand spoke. He then saw Kathy. "And Kathy Richards! Super Girl!"

People started to rush over to the two as Kathy smiled. "Awesome names! I like them!"

"Kathy! Not the time." Sue whispered as they started running down the street.

"Sue, you're a going to have to go invisible." Kathy breathed.

Sue looked at her. "And you?"

Kathy smiled and started hovering in the air. "I can get along pretty good. Meet you at the park." She spoke and flew off. Sue sighed and turned the corner pulling off her clothes turning invisible.

"I can't believe I'm doing this again."

The Next Morning

Ben was squeezing oranges into a glass bowl, making orange juice for himself. Reed was eating an omelet and drinking some coffee. Sue sat next to him reading the paper drinking coffee and eating some toast with scrambled eggs.

Johnny came downstairs and into the kitchen. "Alright I'm here, let's make this quick. I've got places to go." He spoke stealing the bowl that Ben had just squeezed for himself. "Oh wait? I don't go anywhere."

"Johnny it's imperative that we stay here until we figure out the prolonged effects of our cases." Reed spoke. Ben grabbed a big bowl of fruit salad and attempted to pick up a fork. Kathy walked down stairs looking as if she had just gotten out of bed, wearing a pair of Johnny's sweatpants, rolled up a few times, and a tank top she borrowed from Sue.

"Ooh, fruit. Can you spare some Uncle Ben?" She asked coming and sitting next to him.

"I know, I know Reed. But last time you said that, my brain hurt a week." Johnny spoke to Reed.

Ben smiled at Kathy. "If you could pick up this fork for me, it's a deal." Kathy beamed and handed Ben the fork, and picked up her own as they harpooned a fruit.

"Johnny it's too dangerous for you to go outside." Sue spoke taking a sip of her coffee.

"You've been saying that for years." Johnny argued.

"I agree with Sue!" Kathy laughed. She and Ben took a bite of the fruit and their faces contorted, each hearing a crunchy sound. They looked at their forks and saw that the tips had been chewed off. They shared a look before simultaneously spitting into their napkins.

"Use a spoon." Reed suggested, handing them both two spoons. "What worries me is that our powers may be evolving."

"I know! I'm so close to flying guys, I can almost taste it." Johnny smiled as he balled up a napkin and tossed it on the counter, inadvertently setting it on fire without him noticing.

"You can't fly." Sue laughed.

"Yet." Johnny countered.

"Johnny would you put that napkin out?"

Johnny turned and noticed the thing on fire. "Oh Jesus." He muttered trying to pat it out with his hands, only causing it to grow. Kathy rolled her eyes.

"Not going to work."

"You want to try?" Johnny asked. "Oh that's right, your specialty is lifting, flying, and blowing." He spoke, adding on a double meaning to the last one.

Kathy's eyes widened before she narrowed them at the boy. Red laser beams shot out of her eyes and at his shoulder, which he quickly moved out of the way of. Kathy gasped. "Reed…I think our powers are evolving…"

"I've been working on a machine." Reed pulled out blueprints for a machine that had two components. One where the person would stand in, and another that would simulate the storm. "It's going to simulate the storm. With enough power I think I can be able to stabilize the storm."

"And return us back to normal." Ben finished off for him, taking a bit of the salad, and not biting off metal. "How long will it take to build?"

"I don't know-"

"You don't know?" Ben got out of his seat annoyed.

"Calm down Uncle Ben. It'll take a while to build and get the calculations right. But to move things along, I'll be helping too." Kathy smiled.

"You don't want to rush it and make things worse." Reed added on.

Johnny laughed. "Worse than that?"

"Hey! We all have to learn to get along if we're going to be living with each other for a while." Sue warned.

The Next Day

Johnny was inside Ben's room, there was a glob of shaving cream on his hand, and Johnny ran a feather duster down Ben's head, with no reaction.

Reed, walked into the bathroom before knocking. Sue, who had been drying herself off from a shower gasped and turned invisible as she put her towel around herself instinctively. "You could knock!"

"Uh…sorry." Reed said not knowing what to say.

Reed and Kathy were working on some sketches and design plans for the machine. Each one getting frustrated when the other refused to listen.

Johnny walked by one of the bathrooms and saw Reed's hand coming out and across the hallway. When it came back, in it was a roll of toilet paper as it went back into the bathroom.

Johnny instead of using the feather side used the wood side and got a reaction, but with the wrong hand. Johnny sighed and thought up something else.

Kathy, having gotten out of the shower and needing more clothes walked next door to Johnny's room and opened the door, without thinking to knock, only to see Johnny with a towel around his waist. "Aw damn." She muttered and whirled around.

"Not one for knocking I see."

"Just toss me some clothes." Johnny tossed her some of his clothes and she quickly walked out, not turning around again.

Johnny tried one more time to use the wooden part and dragged it along Ben's face. Ben slapped his own face with the shaving cream filled hand and Johnny silently cheered before running off. Ben opened his eyes and growled. "JOHNNY!"

Kathy, was tossing and turning in her bed. It was at least 12 o'clock in the morning. The girl was in a deep sleep. Her face was contorted as she had a nightmare, recalling demons from her past, and memories she never wanted to relive again. She bolted out of bed screaming a little before she covered her mouth. She looked around and waited, satisfied that no one heard her, before getting up and heading towards Reed's room.

She passed by the living room and saw a TV on. She walked over and saw Johnny, lounged out in front of it, looking bored. He turned and saw her. "Couldn't sleep either?" He asked. Kathy shook her head and walked over to sit on the other end of the couch. Her shirt bunched up slightly and Johnny looked over. "What's that on your stomach?"

Kathy looked down and noticed what he saw. A long thin scar that winded down her rib cage and to mid stomach. "A scar." She replied emotionlessly.

"A scar? When did you-"

"Please…don't. Not something I want to remember right now." Kathy whispered bringing her knees up into her chest. Johnny nodded in understanding. Kathy shivered and closed her eyes.

"You cold?" Johnny asked. Kathy looked up and nodded.

"Yeah…there's a draft in my room. It's super cold in there." She shrugged. "No big deal I guess."

Johnny smiled his charming smile. "No it isn't a big deal. Not when your with the worlds best portable space heater. Come on, I'll keep you warm." He opened his arms to her.

Kathy shook her head and snorted. "Storms, I'm really not in the mood for-"

"Hey, this is a completely civil offer." Johnny held his hands up innocently.

Kathy glanced at him for a few seconds. "Your not going to try anything right? Because I can just kick your ass if you do."

"Scouts honor." Johnny spoke holding up his left hand.

Kathy rolled her eyes and reluctantly got up and walked over to Johnny. He pulled her down and into his arms. Since he was laying on an angle, he put her between his legs, and allowed her to lay her head on his chest. He kept his right arm around her waist, and used his left arm to prop up his head on the armrest. "God you are warm."

"Comfy?" Johnny asked. Kathy nodded.

"So, what are you watching?" She asked looking at the screen and noticing the football game going on.

"Bengals, vs. Packers." Johnny said quickly.

"Money's on the Bengals. They have a better team this year, and their wide receiver's are phenomenal."

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, but the Packers have a pretty good defense." So far the score was zero to zero and a commercial came on. It was silent for a moment before Johnny spoke up. "Was is it a nightmare?"

Kathy nodded. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Want me to give you a kiss so it's all better?" Johnny smirked.

Kathy snorted. "Your such a flirt. And I told you not to try anything. I'll kick you out of this couch."

Johnny shrugged. "I was kidding. So, when you want to talk you can. Just know that I'm here for you." He paused the looked down. "Do you want me to move, because I can if you want?"

Kathy panicked. "No!" She calmed herself down after closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "No…can, you just stay here with me for now. I…I not ready to be alone in my room again. Not yet. Just…stay."

Johnny smiled. "Whatever you want Princess."


	6. The Torch Breaks Out

**A/N: Here's chapter six! I'm on a roll! Thanks for all the great comments! I'm so thankful! Italics are thoughts, I don't own the song in here, and it gets pretty dark towards the end and the next few chapters, just a warning!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**The Torch Breaks Out**

Kathy jerked up awake for the fifth night in a row. She looked around her room, and held her head in her hands. She got up, and padded out of her room and, opposed to what she did for the past five years whenever she had this same nightmare, she walked towards the living room, instead of Reed's room.

Johnny was lying down on the couch now watching a stand-up comedy routine. He looked over and saw Kathy and frowned. "Again? It's the fifth night in a row. You sure you don't want to talk about it Kathy?"

Kathy nodded and walked behind the couch towards the kitchen. "I'm going to grab something from the kitchen, I want something to eat. You want anything?"

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. Maybe some chips."

"Your so unhealthy." Kathy muttered walking to the kitchen.

"What? Chips are healthy…kind of."

Kathy jut rolled her eyes and disappeared into the kitchen. Johnny turned his attention back to the comedian that was making a joke about airport security, when he heard the sound of shattering glass coming from the kitchen. "Kathy? You okay?" He asked. When he didn't get a response he got up and ran into the kitchen. Kathy had one hand in the cabinet, where she was reaching for a cup, and glass shards were in her hair, from the cup that she had accidentally crushed. Tears ran down Kathy's face as she was frozen in her position.

"Kathy, did you get cut?" Johnny asked looking her over. There was a small amount of glass on the ground by Kathy's feet, while most of it was in her hair. He picked her up and placed her on the counter so she didn't cut her feet. "Kathy why are you crying?" He asked looking to her. She didn't answer but kept crying.

Johnny just grabbed a broom and swept up the glass on the floor, giving Kathy time to calm down, and then picked all the glass out of her hair and tossing it in the garbage. "I broke the cup…" Kathy muttered.

Johnny looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, it's okay Kathy, it was just a cup."

"I shattered it."

Johnny stood in front of where Kathy was on the counter, placing his hands on both sides of her. "Kathy, it's fine. We can get a new cup, and Reed won't know that-"

"No! You don't get it!" Kathy exclaimed. She sighed before continuing, her voice shaky and a fresh round of tears coming down her face. "I…I went to grab the cup, like I normally would you know? I d-didn't even mean to grip it so hard…I grabbed it how I normally would…"

Johnny looked confused for a second before his face shone in understanding. "Oh…your afraid. Your scared if you can shatter the cup, without trying, what else you can do without knowing it." Kathy nodded and Johnny smiled, hugging her.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Come on, I'm showing you that you can control your strength. Just have to be gentle. Hug me back."

"But, I-"

"Just trust me will you?" Johnny shot back. Kathy closed her eyes and hugged back as gently as possible. "See? No broken bones or anything." Johnny laughed. Kathy opened her eyes and saw that he was right and smiled.

"Thanks Johnny." Kathy spoke. "Thanks for being here for me."

They both let go and Johnny shrugged. "No problem. I'm actually very sensitive." He spoke, slightly sarcastic. Kathy rolled her eyes and Johnny laughed. "Okay, so I'm pretty sure we're both hungry so how about some take-out?"

"It's 12 in the morning." Kathy pointed out.

"So?" Kathy smirked, and they ordered take out. They were very quiet when the delivery boy brought them the food, and they ate and laughed as they watched the comedy routine.

With Victor

Victor, was in his bathroom washing his hands, looking very desperate and hostile. A TV in the next room was on the news station where it talked about the sharp decline of Victors company. He reached over for a towel by, an outlet when electricity flowed out and into his hands. Startled, he jerked his hand back and the electricity stopped.

Intrigued he put his hand near the outlet again, as the electricity surged through his arm and body, he brought the electricity up to his face and closed his fist, shutting off the power in the bathroom. He smiled sadistically. "Interesting."

In A Parking Structure

Ned, was walking to his car at night, as the lights started to flicker. He looked around, obviously worried that someone would jump him or try to mug him. "Hello?" He called out. He then noticed Victor walking toward him slowly. "Victor? What's with these lights huh?" After he didn't get an answer he tried a different topic. "So about the IPO, no hard feelings right? Nothing personal." Again no answer. "You, know Victor, if it doesn't work out, you can always move back to Latviria." No response. Now Ned, became confident. "Maybe, that's where you belong, the old country."

Ned was about to turn around when Victor raised his hand and shot electricity through Ned, burning a hole through his stomach. He fell to the ground in a heap, unmoving and dead. "Nothing personal Ned, but I'm not going anywhere."

In The Baxter Building

Kathy was in her room writing in her notebook while listening to music. She looked over at the clock on the wall and noticed a letter that Johnny hadn't opened, hidden among the others. "Looks like he didn't get them all." She snickered as she got up and grabbed it, retreating back to her bed and flopping down.

The letter was sealed in it's envelope, the return address not written, not even a name for the sender was written. Kathy pouted as she opened the letter and started to read it. The happy smile she had on her face slowly slipped away as her lips parted in horror and shock. By the time she finished reading, she let it slip from her hands.

She grabbed for her book as she turned the pages full of song lyrics, stories, and drawings, frantically, looking for one thing in particular. She finally found it and folded to corner so it was easy to find again, before finding a clean sheet and ripping it out. She grabbed the pen she was using before, and started scribbling frantically. Finishing she folded it up and wrote down the names of Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny.

She kissed the paper before running to the closet and grabbing a small knapsack. She started putting t-shirts in it when she realized they wouldn't fit her. She grabbed her uniform, changed quickly, and put in her notebook and pen before going next door to Johnny's room. "Hey Johnny…can I come in?" She asked. When she got no answer she opened the door and saw that the boys favorite leather jacket, which was normally on the chair by the window, was gone along with his keys. "He broke out too it seems." Kathy raided Johnny's closet, pulling out jeans and t-shirts, and noticing his second favorite jacket she pulled it out and shrugged in on her shoulders.

She found a sheet of paper on the nightstand and scribbled another note quickly before slinging the bag on her back and walking out the room.

With Johnny

Johnny grabbed a Jiffy Pop bag of popcorn and grabbed a bottle of water, walking over to the living room where the TV was on, on the motocross restyle channel. As he walked in the popcorn started popping, underneath Johnny's hand and was done by the time he sat down on the couch.

He looked at the screen and shook his head. "I gotta get out of here." He muttered getting up. He walked by the closet where all the uniforms were kept and smiled evilly as he grabbed his. He started walking back to his room, when he noticed the door to Kathy's slightly open. He smiled when he saw the girl laying on her stomach scribbling down something in that notebook she always seemed to have around. Her ears were completely covered by headphones that DJ's used. She didn't seem to notice Johnny at the door.

He continued walking past and into his room, where he quickly changed out of his clothes, into his uniform and back again into his normal clothes. He grabbed his favorite leather jacket and his car keys and headed down toward the garage. He hopped in his red sports car, with the addition of his new custom made license plates, which said **TORCH'D**.

He pulled up to a traffic light close to the arena when a, wannabe motorcycle gang, guy pulled up next to him with a black mustang. "Hey let's go!" The guy shouted egging him on into a race to see whose car is fastest. Johnny ignored him. "Let's see what you got pretty boy!"

_Calm down Johnny, not the first time you've ever heard that before._ He told himself. "Where's your hot sister and the monster?" The guy called out again. Johnny bit his lip, a bit. _Again, ALSO not the first time you've heard that before. _"Oh, and how can I forget that gorgeous brunette! I'm telling you if your not tapping that I will!" Johnny's eyebrow shot up as he looked over at the guy. _Okay, not one I heard before. I think that allows a bit of punishment and humiliation._

Johnny stuck his arm out the window and melted the rubber off the rims of the tires, so the metal rims, themselves melted to the ground. The traffic light turned green and Johnny sped forward while the other guy was left in the dust.

In the Arena

An announcer down by the areas where the riders rode, had a microphone in his hand as a TV camera panned in on his face. "Alright, alright. I'd like you all to welcome a very special guest, Mr. Johnny Storm, from the Fantastic Five!" He shouted.

Johnny, decked out in riding gear, put on his goggles and rode off to the first ramp. He was up in the air, where he balanced on the handlebars, pointing his legs up together toward the ceiling. Everyone began cheering, loudly as he landed. "Whoa! Look at that lift! But Johnny, that's old school! Show us something new."

Johnny, starring at the ramp and raising an eyebrow smirked, letting a bit of heat soak through. "Something new? You got it." He rode up to the ramp and propelled off. He let go of his bike and did flips in the air. He started panicking when he noticed his bike falling away from him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Come on Johnny! Come on Johnny!" He shouted to himself, turning on fire. He started going up in the sky.

The announcer grabbed his head in awe. "Is he flying?"

"No, no, no!" Johnny shouted as he lost control and the flames dissipated. He fell towards the ground, landed on one of the dirt hills and rolled down until he was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. "Dangerous." He muttered remembering what Reed said about not knowing what they're powers could do. Paramedics rushed over to Johnny who was already taking his helmet off. "I'm okay. I'm good." He muttered standing up, his jersey partially burned off.

"He's okay! He's all right!" The announcer shouted. Everyone cheered and Johnny looked around soaking it in. "Johnny Storm ladies and gentlemen! I've got to hand it to you Johnny, you were on fire!" Johnny smiled pulling off the rest of his burned suit, revealing his uniform underneath, now with a silver circle on his chest with a black 4 engraved in it.

At the Baxter Building

"He didn't." Sue spoke crossing her arms as she stared at the TV.

"Oh yes he did. Flame boy never listens." Ben growled.

"What did he do to his uniform?" Sue wondered. Reed, who was wearing a white lab coat over his uniform, covered up the silver four that was peeking out, not wanting Sue to realize it was _him_ who altered the uniforms.

Johnny was talking to a newscaster with two girls from the motocross exhibition. _"Johnny, I've got to say, love the outfit."_ The newscaster spoke.

"_Yeah, it's kinda of Armani meets astronaut." _

"_So, Johnny what are your super hero names?"_

Johnny smiled. _"They call me the Human Torch…ladies call me Torch."_ A picture of Sue appeared on a the screen. _"That's the Invisible Girl."_

"Girl?" Sue asked raising an eyebrow.

"_What about your leader Reed Richards? I hear you call him Mr. Fantastic."_

Johnny had come up with a witty remark but Ben ignored him and shrugged. "It could be worse."

"_Is it true he can stretch any part of his anatomy?"_

Johnny smiled at the prospect of being able to make fun of Reed, and at the sheer awkwardness of the question. _"Well, I've always found him to be a little limp."_

Reed looked shocked at the TV screen. A picture came up on the screen of Kathy. Johnny's face visible softened and brightened. The newscaster noticed this and smiled. _"And her name? And do I sense a bit of romance?"_

Johnny looked at the newscaster for a second, trying to process what she had said. He had always implied that he wanted to date Kathy, heck, he's even _said_ it. But he never completely thought about it. To him, she was little Kathy. That cute sweet girl who you can always turn to, that was his best friend, and that he _swore_ to always be there to protect. Sure he loved her, but did he _love_ her? He hadn't thought of it much. Realizing that the newscaster was waiting for an answer he spoke up.

"_Aw, little Kathy! That's Super Girl in every essence of the word. But as for romance? Not that I know of. She's my best friend."_

The newscaster, obviously not as happy as she would have been if she had a juicy bit of gossip on film smiled none the less and pointed to a picture of Ben. _"What's that? What do you call that thing?"_

Johnny smiled ready to make fun of Ben, in an annoying sibling kind of way. _"That's just it. The Thing. If you think this is bad you should have seen him before."_

Ben glared at the TV. "That's it. Now I'm gonna go kill him." He spoke and stalked out of the room, followed closely by Reed and Sue.

At a Recording Studio

Kathy walked in and was immediately greeted by the secretary, obviously recognizing who she was. "Katherine Richards! What an honor it is to have you with us! Is there anything at all I could do for you?"

Kathy nodded and looked around nervously, and guilty. "Yeah, there is actually. Do you have a recording booth open?"

The secretary nodded and then tossed her a quizzical look. "Of course we can have one open for you in under half an hour. But, my dear, I didn't know you sang."

Kathy nodded and smiled. "I dabble is a few things actually."

The secretary nodded and got up from her desk. "I'll arrange a private booth for you immediately." Kathy bit her lip.

"Wait!" The lady turned around. "If it's not too much trouble…I don't want a private booth. Can you alert a TV station? I want this to be broadcasted live."

At The Arena

"There he is." Sue pointed out. Reed and Sue ran over to him when Ben noticed the **TORCH'D** license plate on Johnny's red sports car. He smirked and made a beeline for the car.

"Johnny." Sue spoke sternly as she and Reed flanked the boy on both sides.

"Can we talk about this later guys?" Johnny asked trying to brush them off as he walked down the stretch of paparazzi out of the arena and towards the street.

"No we cannot talk about this later Johnny. What were you thinking?" Sue exclaimed.

"We're my ride?" Johnny asked trying to ignore her. A red ball of the bent metal of a car flew down in front of the three super heroes. Johnny gaped at the sight. "Is that my-" He got cut off by his license plate hitting him in the head and saw Ben. "You think this is funny pebbles?"

"Johnny!" Sue exclaimed.

"What?" He asked clearly irritated.

"You have us names? You don't think! So now you're the face of the Fantastic Five?"

"The face that's about to be broken!" Ben shouted coming up to Johnny. Sue was standing near Johnny and Reed near Ben, holding him back.

"This isn't permanent Johnny! We have to lay low until we're normal again." Reed explained.

"What if I don't want to be normal again? I didn't turn into a monster!" Johnny shouted pointing to Ben. Ben reeled his fist back ready to punch Ben before he realized what he was doing. He turned around and started walking away.

Sue glared at Johnny. "Johnny, say your sorry." A ball of fire flew at the back of Ben's head.

Ben turned around shocked. "Did you just-" He was cut off by another fireball to the face. "That's it Tinker Bell! You want to fly?" Ben shouted as he charged toward Johnny, Reed got in between Ben as he swung at Johnny. "Then fly!" Ben punched Reed accidentally, but Reed's stomach stretched so it hit Johnny and sent him flying back onto a Burger King billboard, where there were little patches of fire from where he landed.

Reed looked at his stomach slightly shocked and stepped out of the way as Johnny looked up and glared daggers at Ben who looked ready for another round.

At the Recording Studio

Kathy was sitting with her bag at her feet, shifting every few seconds. The secretary walked over to her and smiled. "Hello there dear, your booth will be ready in about ten minutes, but I thought that you should see something."

"What is it?" She asked as she followed the kind lady towards the lounge where there was a TV. She turned it on and it showed a scene where the other four were. _"Johnny, say your sorry."_ Sue spoke. Kathy sighed. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to go help them out."

The blonde bubbly lady nodded in understanding. "No problem. Take all the time you need."

At the Arena

"Wait a minute guys." Sue spoke as Johnny jumped off the billboard and walked towards Ben. "Ben, don't do this."

"Let's see if we can get blood from a stone." Johnny threatened.

"Bring it burnout." Ben replied.

"You two need a timeout!" Sue shouted bringing up her arms to push them apart, using a force field for Ben. Johnny seemed to be ready to walk right through her right when Kathy landed next to Johnny, her feet imprinted in the street slightly.

"What's going on?" Kathy asked her hands on her hips. She looked over as she saw Ben walk away.

"Talk to block head, he started it!" Johnny yelled off to where Ben was.

"I don't care! Damn it Johnny!" Sue exclaimed before she ran off to calm Ben down. "Ben, wait!"

"I'm waiting for an explanation." Kathy asked now standing in front of the fire boy.

"Ben was being a jerk and-"

"And, I saw you throw the fireball at his face Johnny. What's with you? You never fight with Ben. Well, sure there is always the verbal abuse but never fists." Kathy asked looking sad and worried. Johnny sighed and shrugged. Kathy hung her head and looked up at the sky. "Johnny, at least try not to mess with Ben as much as you do. How am I supposed to leave you guys here when your ready to kill each other?"

Reed, who was watching the two, noticed something in the wording she used and walked up to them both. "What do you mean _leave you guys here_?"

Kathy swallowed nervously and shook her head. "Bad wording choice. Anyways, I've got to head back to the building. I'm not feeling too good. Don't kill each other…please." She asked as she hugged both men in front of her. She then turned to Reed. "Reed, make sure everyone is at the building in under ten minutes. There's something I want to say to everyone and you all have to be there. Early." She spoke quickly before walking away.

Reed, now alone with Johnny, took his turn at criticizing the boys actions. Johnny noticed his gaze, and his sour mood returned with the exit of Kathy. "What."

"Johnny, you've got to be smarter. Think before you act."

"Yeah, well that's your problem Reed, you always think, you never act. What if we got these powers for a reason? What if it's like some higher calling?"

"A higher calling like getting girls and making money?" Reed asked sarcastically.

Johnny shrugged. "Is there any higher?" He responded with the same amount of sarcasm that Reed used. "This is who we are Reed, deal with it. Or better yet, enjoy it." Johnny spoke as he started walking away. "I'm heading back to the Baxter. I want to see what Kathy has to say." Reed sighed and followed Johnny, while taking his phone out and sending a message to Sue.

With Ben and Sue

"Wait! Ben, slow down!" Sue called out catching up to Ben walking down the street in a group of people. "He didn't mean it. You know Johnny, he's always been a hot head."

"It ain't him. It's THEM!" He roared at the crowd of people behind them, watching as they flinched backwards in fright.

"Ben, we just have to give Reed a little more time. You know how he works, over analyzing every little step before he even makes one."

Ben snorted. "It's easy for you to be patient."

"No it's not!" She exclaimed, her voice rising a bit. Ben turned to look at her shocked. "I thought I was done waiting for Reed but I-" she paused and reworded her sentence. "We're all in this together Ben."

Ben looked at her and shook his head. "Suzie, look at me. You have no idea what I'd…what I'd give to be invisible."

Sue looked at him sympathetically when her phone rang. She opened and saw the message Reed had sent. She grabbed Ben's arm and steered him towards the Baxter building. "Come on Ben. Kathy has something important to tell us."

Ten Minutes Later

Everyone was seated in the living room of Reed and Kathy's house. Johnny still looked steamed and Ben seemed to be in a worse mood. Sue, was seated on the couch, watching the two carefully, making sure they didn't spontaneously kill each other. "I'm going to go grab my phone." Johnny grumbled as he walked out of the room and towards his own.

Reed walked in and looked around. "Where's Kathy and Johnny?"

"Johnny's in his room grabbing his phone, and I haven't seen Kathy." Sue shrugged.

Reed nodded. "She's probably in her room. I'll go get her."

Before Reed could take a step, Johnny rushed out of his room looking alarmed. "Where's Kathy?" He exclaimed.

Reed looked confused. "I thought she was in her room. Where's the fire?"

Johnny walked over to Reed and Sue on the couch, and looked at Ben. "Ben, I know you hate me right now, but you don't hate Kathy, you need to see this." Ben, got up and around the couch, wondering what Kathy had to do with the piece of paper in his hands. "Read it." The four looked at the note and Johnny's hands and Reed read it out loud.

"_Johnny, sorry about having to borrow your clothes, but I needed to borrow some more. I'll bring them back in perfect condition…well…usable condition. Thanks for being there for me when I needed you and sorry. Love, Kathy."_

Everyone shared a glance and Reed looked shocked. "Remember what Kathy said?" Johnny reminded Reed.

In a flash Reed was up and ran into Kathy's room. He came back holding the note that Kathy wrote and looked horrified.

He read it out loud.

"_Really sorry you guys. I love you all. Turn on the TV and you'll see what's going on. And, Reed, I'm pretty sure your going to be the one to find this note, your going to miss something on the floor of my room. But watch the TV first, then go back and get it and it will all make sense, and I do know how you like things to make sense. Love, Kathy." _

Sue grabbed the remote and turned on the TV to a new station. _"That's right, and I hear we have breaking news going on inside a recording studio right here in New York City, or field reporter Amy Johnson is on scene. Amy."_

The screen switched to that of a middle aged woman with red hair and green eyes standing in a brown spacious recording booth. _"Thank you Chuck. I'm here in one of Spin City Records, recording booths here live. Behind me, in the booth, getting ready to perform a song and say a few words is none other than Katherine Richards, of the Fantastic Five!" _The camera panned around to show Kathy standing in the booth wearing Johnny's baggy dark blue jeans, white and red t-shirt and second favorite leather jacket. There was DJ headphones on her ears and she looked stressful. _"Now, let's hear what this young girl has to say!" _She pressed a button allowing Kathy to hear her. _"Alright Miss Richards, your on!"_

Kathy sucked in a deep breath as the camera set on her. She waved to the camera. _"Hey there everyone. There is actually a reason why I'm doing this, and I want to give an explanation first, to some people who are probably confused. Ben, Sue, Johnny, Reed…I hope your watching. Well…they're probably going to play this a few times anyways, either talking about how I sounded, what I'm wearing, or…why I'm doing this in the first place._" She paused and sighed. _"I'm leaving…I don't know when I'll be back…but I'll try and get back as soon as I can. Some…demons from my past came back to haunt me…and I'm going to make sure that my past __**stays**__ in the past. The reason why I couldn't tell you this in person…is because I knew you would never let me go. You all are my friends, my family, and my heart. So with everything that's going on…I didn't think it would be fair to burden you with this."_ She paused as a few tears slipped down her cheek._ "This song that I'm about to sing, isn't written about you guys. You guys are perfect…well we all have our little quirks but I wouldn't change anything about you guys. This song was written about someone who meant the world to me. I'm wrote this so he knows exactly what he did to me, and that he can't control me anymore. Guys, I'm sorry. Please, understand, and listen." _

Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny all sat in shock as they listen to what Kathy was saying. "She's leaving." Ben spoke trying to understand what was happening.

"Why?" Sue asked.

Reed and Johnny sat back, unmoving and frozen, completely floored by what Kathy was saying. Kathy grabbed the microphone and closed her eyes starting to sing.

_Listen to the song here in my heart_

_A melody I start but can't complete_

_Listen to the sound from deep within_

_Its only beginning to find release_

_Ohh the time has come for my dreams to be heard_

_They will not be pushed aside and turned_

_Into your own, all 'cause you won't listen_

_[chorus]_

_ListenI am alone at a crossroads_

_I'm not at home in my own home_

_And I've tried and triedTo say whats on my mind_

_You should have known_

_Now I'm done believing you_

_You don't know what I'm feeling_

_I'm more than what_

_You've made of me_

_I followed the voice, you gave to me_

_But now I've gotta find my own_

_You should have listened_

_There was someone here inside_

_Someone I thought had died_

_So long agoOh I'm screaming out_

_And my dreams will be heard_

_They will not be pushed Aside or turned_

_Into your own_

_All 'cause you won't listen_

_[chorus]_

_ListenI am alone at a crossroads_

_I'm not at home in my own home_

_And I've tried and tried_

_To say whats on my mind_

_Y__ou should have known_

_Now I'm done believing you_

_You don't know what I'm feeling_

_I'm more than what_

_You've made of meI followed the voice, you gave to me_

_But now I've gotta find my own_

_You should have listened_

_I don't know where I belong_

_But I'll be moving on_

_If you don't, if you won't_

_Listen to the song here in my heart_

_A melody I start, but I will complete_

_Now I am done believing you_

_You don't know not what I am feeling_

_I'm more than what you've made of meI_

_ followed the voice you think you gave to me_

_But now I got to find my own - my own_

Kathy finished her song and exhaled. There were tears streaming down her face as she raised her hands to her lips and blew a kiss to the screen. _"I love you guys so much…but I've got to go. I hope you understand. And I hope all you watching at home, enjoyed this. Goodbye." _She spoke and pulled the headphones off, stepped out of the booth and out of the room.

The camera panned back to the newscaster who had a tissue wiping a stray tear down her face. _"And that was just a emotional, talented, tear jerking performance by Katherine Richards. I'm sure it's hard to find anyone who didn't listen to your beautiful voice. Back to you Chuck."_

Sue turned off the TV as Reed went to Kathy's room to find what he missed on her floor.

"Why…why would she possibly have to go? What was so terrible that happened to her? What demons?" Johnny asked at all at once looking around the room.

Ben and Sue shared a look, a knowing guilt look. "You two know what happened."

Reed came back out with the letter Kathy had dropped on the floor. "We all do Johnny, except you."

Johnny got to his feet angered and annoyed. "What is it that I didn't know? What happened to her that was so awful?"

Reed, shifted as his jaw set and his hands clenched into fists. "Johnny, five years ago Kathy…she was…"

Johnny looked around, ready to explode in anger again, when he noticed the sad, disgusted, and horrified looks on everyone else in the room. "She was…_what?"_

Reed sighed and decided to come out with it, instead of beating around the bush. "Johnny…Kathy was almost raped by our father."


	7. Fighting Demons

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while! I had finals and am SO HAPPY that I'm finally done with them! Now, here's the next chapter! The last chapter was a very, very mean cliffy so all is going to be explained this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**Fighting Demons**

"What?" Johnny asked unbelieving.

Reed looked down and sighed. "Our father Nathan Richards, attempted to rape Katherine."

Johnny sat down on the couch looking unbelieving. Ben shifted uncomfortably and Sue looked absolutely disgusted. "I never knew…she never told me." Johnny spoke. He looked up at Reed and shook his head. "Why?"

Sue looked at Reed, and saw that he had nodded. "It would be better if we would explain what happened that day. It was five years ago…"

_Flashback_

"_Hey! Guess whose birthday is today!" Johnny cheered as he entered the Richard's home. It was summer and school had just ended. Ben, Sue, and Reed had all graduated and were going to start college soon, while Johnny and Kathy were going to be seniors, seeing as she skipped two grades. _

_Kathy was lounged out on the couch, with Reed and Sue sitting next to each other holding hands. Ben was sitting on a chair and rolled his eyes at Johnny. "Yours." _

"_That's right! I'm going to have a HUGE pool party tonight from 7-12!" Sue rolled her eyes at Johnny._

"_Do you really think you need to have a huge party? Just have a small one." _

_Johnny waved her off. "Sue, quit being a party pooper. It's going to be big!" _

_Reed rose an eyebrow. "Who are you even going to invite to the party?" _

"_The entire football team is coming, along with the cheerleaders, and some other people." Johnny spoke excitedly. _

_Kathy laughed. "I bet you twenty bucks that your going to be cleaning up soda cans, plates, and other stuff until the morning, with all the mess there is going to be." _

_Johnny pouted. "Your going to help me out though." _

"_No way am I going to help you clean up crap from your party." Kathy laughed. _

"_So, your on your own dude." Ben snickered. _

_Nathan Richards, Reed and Kathy's father, walked in from the kitchen and saw the kids. "Oh hey there everyone I thought you were going to head to the park before Johnny's party tonight?"_

"_We were just going to head off dad." Kathy smiled. "We were just chilling for a few minutes." _

"_Okay, I'm going to go off to work." Nathan spoke grabbing his jacket at heading out the doors. "I'll be back later." _

"_We'll leave with you." Reed suggested standing up as they all got up, and headed out the door. They waved to Nathan as he drove away, and then started to head down the street. _

"_I'm hungry." Kathy complained, as they neared the park. Sue laughed. _

"_We just left your house ten minutes ago. Why didn't you eat then?" Kathy shrugged. "Well, there's a Chinese restaurant a block down, Reed and I'll go get something." _

"_Thanks Sue." Kathy smiled. _

"_Bring me some fried rice!" Johnny shouted as he jumped onto the monkey bars and hung himself upside down by his knees. Ben rolled his eyes._

"_Whatever you and Reed are getting is fine with me."_

"_Okay, we'll be back soon." Reed smiled as he and Sue started walking away. Sue suddenly turned around and looked at Ben._

"_Ben, keep an eye on Johnny and Kathy and keep them out of trouble."_

_Ben smiled. "Will do Suzie." _

"_Hey!" Johnny and Kathy pouted._

_Ben looked at Johnny and Kathy as soon as Sue and Reed left. "So, what are you two going to do when we go off to college?" _

_Kathy pouted. "Aw man, don't remind me, it's so depressing! I'm going to miss you guys!"_

_Johnny clapped his hands and climbed off the monkey bars. "I can't WAIT til you guys leave! Then I can finally party as long as I want, without Sue riding me for it."_

"_You are so ungrateful." Ben shook his head but laughing at Johnny._

"_Hey, let's go to the teeter totter!" Kathy smiled running over. "Come on Ben!" She was sitting on one side of the teeter totter. Ben, rolled his eyes and smiled going to sit on the other side. Kathy's side of he teeter totter went completely off the ground, and it didn't look like it was going to go back down any time soon. "Hey Johnny, help me out here!" Kathy laughed, trying to jump on her side, with no other results._

_Johnny laughed for a few seconds before heading over and jumping to sit behind Kathy. Now that the weight was balanced out, they all started going up and down on the teeter totter. "Where's Reed and Sue with the food?" Johnny asked, getting hungrier by the minute. _

"_Don't know? You want me to go check on them?" Kathy suggested. _

_Ben shook his head, and climbed off the teeter totter, causing both Kathy and Johnny to fall on the ground, the former falling on top of the other. "No way, Reed would kill me if anything happened to you. You both stay here, I'll go see what's taking so long." _

"_Thanks Ben." Johnny muttered sarcastically. Kathy and Johnny climbed off the ground and headed over to the swings while Ben left. "So, your definetly coming today." It was more of a statement then a question and Kathy smiled nodding._

"_C'mon Johnny, you know I wouldn't miss your eighteenth birthday. You're my best friend." Johnny smiled and hugged Kathy awkwardly, seeing as they were both still swinging._

"_Kathy, you know that you're my best friend right?" Kathy snorted and looked at Johnny as if to say 'no duh'. "If you ever need __anything__ I'll be there for you. I'll always be there to protect you." Kathy smiled and stopped swinging to give Johnny a hug. _

"_Thanks Johnny…you're the best." Sue, Ben, and Reed all came and they five of them started eating._

_Later that Night_

"_Hey Kathy, up and at em, we've got to head to Johnny's party." Reed spoke trying to wake his sleeping sister. He, Ben, and Sue were all in her room waiting for her to wake up. _

_Nathan walked in and smiled. "You three go ahead, your sister had a headache so I gave her some medicine a few hours ago. I'll wake her up then drive her over there." _

"_Okay, thanks dad." Reed smiled. The trio started heading out the door and down the street when Sue cursed. _

"_I left my purse in Kathy's room." _

"_Let's just head back to get it." Ben shrugged. "Then we can drive Kathy and not have to bother your father." _

_They started walking back into the house, and heard muffled screams. Reed looked confused and told the others to be quiet while they headed back up the stairs. "You looks so much like your mother." They heard his father say. _

_Something in Reed snapped into place, and he realized his sister was in danger. He ran upstairs, Ben and Sue right on his heels, and saw Kathy's hands tied to her bedpost, her mouth gagged and tears trailing down her face as her father stood by the bed, his shirt off. _

_It didn't take a scientist to see what his father was planning to do. Reed froze in shock, but thankfully Ben was aware and able to move. Ben tackled Nathan to the ground as Sue ran over to go untie Kathy. As soon as the gag and ties were off she clung to Sue shaking and sobbing._

_Reed, after seeing how scared Kathy was grew furious. He ran over to his father, who had now had Ben pinned to the ground, grabbed a lamp and bashed him over the head with it. Nathan fell to the ground unconscious. Sue grabbed her purse and found a bag in the back of Kathy's closet. She started opening drawers and pulling clothes in, and money she found. _

"_We have to get out of here." She spoke as she finished and zipped the bag. Ben and Reed nodded, running to his room to pack quickly. They all met downstairs and Kathy was still crying and clinging to Sue for dear life. _

"_Let's go." _

_End Flashback_

"Oh my god." Johnny breathed after Sue had finished telling the story. "She never told me."

Reed nodded. "She didn't trust anyone but Ben, Sue, and I. She felt that since you weren't there for her, you didn't care."

"But I do!"

"We know you do Johnny." Sue spoke sympathetically. "But her state of mind at that point in time was convinced you didn't care."

Johnny ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Where is she now then?" Reed looked out the window and shook his head.

"To face our dad."

With Kathy

She was storming down the street of her old house, the lights in the living room on, and the voices of numerous people inside. Kathy stomped up the steps and opened the door violently. She turned into the living room and saw her father among a lot of other men who looked wealthy. Nathan smiled. "Kathy."

"Don't you Kathy me." She growled. The other men circled so they were around her. "What's with all the guys?"

"They're here for my new business. I sell _things_." Kathy stiffened at the tone her father was taking.

"What things?"

Nathan smiled an evil wolfish smile. "People." Kathy's stomach dropped. She didn't need a further explanation. "And now that you're here, let's have the bidding start for Miss Katherine Richards."

Kathy's eyes widened. She strained her ears over the sound of bidding and heard panicked cries that a normal person wouldn't have. "Sold! For 100,000."

Kathy's pulse became the only things she could hear, as her fists clenched and her eyes narrowed. The person who started coming near her, hands raised found himself outside on the lawn, after crashing through the window Kathy punched him through.

Two other guys charged at the small brunette and found the same fate. It seemed that the last two guys made something snap in her because Kathy went ballistic. She kicked a man clear through a wall and lifted up a table and chucking it at the remaining men, before jumping onto it, pinning them to the ground.

Kathy's eyes glowed red with unused laser beams as she stared down at her father. "I should kill you." She seethed. The fear in Nathan's eyes was clearly visible, although his eyes started to flutter from the impact of the table. Kathy's eyes returned to normal. "But I wont…I want to see you sit in a jail cell and rot." She hissed and climbed off of the table now that all the men were unconscious.

Kathy dashed to the door to the basement and pulled it off of it's hinges, running down the stairs. All the kids who were chained to the wall started screaming. There were around twenty kids ranging from 7-19. Kathy started crying and shook her head. "It's okay…your okay now. They can't hurt you anymore."

Twenty Minutes Later

"You saved these kids." Kathy turned and noticed the police officer talking to her. They had arrived fairly quickly after she called and quickly took away the men before helping the kids to get into squad cars.

Kathy nodded. "I wish they didn't have to go through that though…" She hopped off the hood of the squad car and started walking down the street. She was walking for ten minutes before she saw the park she had been at only five years ago. A smile graced her face as she walked over to the swings, sitting down and swinging lightly. She remembered how she had treated Johnny for the past five years because of what her father did and hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry Johnny…"

"Aw, how sweet." Kathy whirled around and jumped up shocked.

"Victor?" Victor grabbed Kathy's upper arms and sent a course through her small frame. Kathy screamed in pain before falling limp.

Victor smirked. "One down…four to go."


	8. Take Charge

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while! I left you at a mean cliffy part! What's going to happen to Kathy? How will Victor try to get rid of the charismatic crime fighting girl? Let's find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four.**

**Take Charge**

Victor walked through one of the storage facilities for his company, burnt bodies of the security guards lying everywhere. A metal wire was tied around Kathy's wrist as he dragged the unconscious girls body on the floor behind him. "Thank you gentlemen…" He spoke sarcastically to the dead men on the ground. He walked up to an area with a heat seeking missile and a hyper cooling unit. "I'm just here to pick up some things…for a few friends."

"How do we know she's going to be alright?" Johnny asked worriedly.

Sue laughed a bit. "Johnny, the girl can lift a hundred tons and make it look easy. She can fly, she can blow people over by breathing and she can shoot laser beams out of her eyes. I'm pretty sure she's going to be okay."

Reed nodded while Johnny shot her a look. "Johnny, she's going to be fine…we just have to trust her."

Ben, who was watching the TV trying to calm his nerves, burst into laughter as he raised the volume. "I'm pretty sure Kathy's fine." The three turned towards the TV and noticed that there was a news reporter standing outside the Richard's old home, a broken door, window, and wall visible in the background, and kids sitting in squad cars.

"_I'm on scene here at the home of Nathan Richards where he, among others were arrested after their 'sex slave' dealing ring was uncovered. FBI agents assigned to this case had suspected Mr. Richards but couldn't find any evidence to support their theory, but today a miracle arrived. Katherine Richards, AKA Supergirl, arrived at her father's home where the men attacked her, only to find themselves unconscious while the lovely super heroine freed twenty children, ranging anywhere from seven to nineteen, and alerted the authorities. These children have been singing her praises, as well as some of the officers on scene and Katherine Richards, humble and compassionate, only had this to say." _

A clip switched to Katherine sitting on the back of a police car. She slid off the car and sighed. _"I just wish they didn't have to go through that though…"_

The clip changed back to the reporter. _"This is Anna Porter, first on scene. Back to you Jack."_

Sue shook her head and laughed. "That's our girl."

Reed and Johnny looked visibly relaxed after the news and smiled. "Alright, I'm gone." Johnny spoke.

"Whoa, whoa, where are you going?" Sue asked.

"Celebrate." Johnny smiled pointing at the TV and running out before Sue could say anything else.

"I'm heading out too." Ben said, back to his sour mood. Reed and Sue didn't stop him, knowing he needed that.

Reed looked to Sue and his face showed how awkward he felt. "Uh…I'm going to go…run a few more tests." With that he quickly left the room. Sue stood in the now empty room and snickered.

"You are such a dork."

Ben walked into a bar, each step he took cause a sort of ripple in the music that was being played. Everyone looked to Ben as if he was a freak. Ben tried to ignore the looks and walked over to a bar stool. As he sat down, his weight caused the chair to collapse and he fell to the ground. Everyone started chuckling. Ben got up and looked hurt. "That's not funny…"

The bartender quickly defended him "This is Ben Grimm here. The first guy from Brooklyn to go into outer space, so pay him some respect."

"I'll just take the usual." Ben spoke…he then looked at his hands. "Make it a double."

"Make it a triple." Ben turned his attention to a beautiful young girl sitting at a table by herself. She had dark colored skin, eyes, and hair and was smiling widely. "Put it on my tab Ernie."

Ben nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem."

Ben went to grab his glass when it broke in his fingertips. He growled before glaring at the ceiling. "If there's a god…he hate's me."

"_She_ isn't so much into hate."

Ben turned and noticed she was blind. "If you can see me, you wouldn't be saying that."

"Then let me see you." She spoke gathering her things and putting them into her purse. "Can I?"

Ben and the bartenders exchanged looks, the latter simply shrugging. She walked over to Ben and almost ran into the counter. "It's okay." She assured Ben, when she sensed he flinched. She put her hands on his chest and seemed surprised for a moment, before moving her hands along his chest and up to his neck and face. Ben relaxed into her touch and she smiled a bit. "So sad. Hey now…being different, isn't always a bad thing."

Ben grasped both her arms as gently as he could and pulled them away from him. "Trust me, this ain't one of those times."

She smiled. "Not if you don't want it to be. Alright, I'm outta here Ernie."

"I'll walk you out."

Ben was about to turn around and ask for her name but she beat him to it. "I'm Alicia, by the way." Ben grinned as she walked out.

Victor began starring at a mask which had been given to him as a gift from the people of Latviria. Kathy was still in his office tied up, starting to come to. When she found out where she was she immediately jumped up and got into a fighting stance. "Reed got what he wanted," Victor began, "And everything he wanted…he took from me. Now it's time, to take it back."

Kathy glared. "Okay, I know you have some issues to sort through, but I'm just going to let you do that AFTER I kick your ass."

Victor turned towards Kathy and grinned before shooting electricity at her, sending the young girl into a wall. "Now, now Kathy. You're the first act," he said approaching her as she was having trouble getting up. Victor looked at his watch. "Hm…it's almost time for you to take center stage." With that Victor grabbed her arms and let currents of electricity pass through her as she screamed and twitched, fighting to remain conscious. The efforts were in vain because just as before she fell unconscious and was silent again.

Victor looked to a monitor on the screen of Reed working on the computer trying to fix the machine to get them back to normal. Then it switched to a picture of Ben's vitals. "But first, I need to get rid of his other body guard."

Ben was sitting inside of a diner carefully drinking his coffee so he didn't shatter the glass cup. Victor walked in and stood beside the booth. "Is this seat taken?"

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked in annoyance.

"I was worried about you."

"Huh, you were worried about me? How sweet," Ben spat out sarcastically. Victor didn't look put off.

"Come on, let me buy you something to eat. You look like you could use some company."

"Reed…" Sue spoke softly tapping Reed's hand. He had fallen asleep on the computer. Reed looked up, his face taking the imprints of the keyboard before it went back to it's usual state.

"I was just resting my eyes," Reed defended as he tried to get the sleep out of his system.

"So I see," Sue retorted. "The new readouts look very promising."

"Not promising enough."

"When are the new tests?"

Reed looked up and sighed. "I've run out of plants. So I was thinking…there's always…me."

Sue's face changed from confusion to complete protection mode. "No. Reed, it's too soon."

"I should get back to work."

"You need a break."

"Not now."

Sue went over and took the papers out of Reeds hand helping him up. "Come on, let's go."

Sue and Reed went to a pier with a view of the Statue of Liberty. "Remember this place?" Sue asked.

"Of course, this is where I first asked you out."

Sue grinned. "I think it was me who asked you."

Reed thought about it and remembered that was true. "Right…but you can be a little intimidating."

"You know a girl could grow old waiting for you to take charge."

"Now, we all can't be as bold as-"

Sue cut him off. "As who? Victor? You know there is no 'me' in Victor. Never was."

"Well, I guess that's what I thought you always wanted. A stronger man," Reed stretched his jaw so it was bigger, illustrating his point and causing Sue to giggle.

"I did Reed, but I wanted you to be that man."

Reed looked happy and confused at the same time. "Then why didn't you say so?"

"Because, it would've defeated the purpose, but I'm saying it now. So take charge."

Reed grinned and was about to lean in to kiss her when Sue made herself go invisible so her clothes were the only indication that she was there. "That's not fair."

Ben had a huge stack of pancakes in front of him and a tin cup that was easier for him to drink out of. He let out a burp as the waitress carrying his used plates away gave him a look. "Excuse me," he said sheepishly.

Victor grinned, thinking of the perfect way to get Ben in his pocket. "It must be hard for you. I mean Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Kathy's lives haven't changed that much. I mean, at least they can still go out in public."

Ben put down his drink and glared. "If this is your idea of cheering me up, your doing a hell of a job. You know what I mean scar face?"

"What I'm trying to say is I know how it feels to lose something you love, and know it's never coming back," Victor clarified.

"Look, Reed and Kathy are going to fix me up. Okay."

"For your sake I hope your right. But where is Kathy anyways? Last I heard she was on a vendetta against her father. But I trust that as soon as she get's back she'll put forth everything to get you to normal again. Reed? Well, he's a brilliant man and we _should_ trust that he is doing all he can. What reason could he have to take his time? Other than spending more time with Sue," Victor spoke tossing some money on the table.

Ben looked up in shock.

"Wow, I had no idea," Sue spoke as she and Reed walked back into the lab of the Baxter building.

"It's true!" Reed responded as they both started laughing.

Ben was sitting one a crate waiting for them, and as soon as Reed and Sue entered the room and saw the expression Ben wore, they stopped laughing. Ben snorted. "Yeah, I have that effect on people."

Reed smiled, thinking that Ben was just joking, and that he had finally cooled down from Johnny's taunting. Reed walked forward smiling. "Ben."

"Oh? So you remember my name now?" Ben spoke sarcastically as he got up and walked so he was in front of Reed. "Do you also remember what you swore to do with every breath in your body?"

Reed, seeing that Ben was serious, dropped his smile. "We're working as hard as we can."

Ben cast a look at Sue then back to Reed. "Yeah, I can tell. Victor was right."

Reed walked over to the machine and motioned to it. "Victor? Ben, I don't know if this machine will make us normal or make us worse! That's why I need you to be patient for a little while longer."

"Reed! Look at me!"

"I am looking! That's why I can't afford to make a mistake! I have to wait til it's ready and it's not ready yet! We need to test it!"

"I spent my life watching out for you! And for what? So you could play twister with your girlfriend while I'm the freak of the week!" Ben shouted shoving Reed back so he fell into a tools cart.

"Ben stop it!" Sue pleaded.

Ben turned around, to look at her, not wanting to get her involved. "You stay out of this Suzie!"

"Stop it or I will!"

Reed jumped on Ben's back and started stretching to try and restrain him. Ben ran backwards and smashed Reed into the machine before throwing him towards the catwalk, ignoring Sue's pleas to stop. Reed, lost his grip on the catwalk and shot back towards Ben and wrapped himself around him so he couldn't move. "Calm down!"

Sue looked on with hurt in her eyes, seeing as the once great friends were reduced to fighting. Ben let out a strangled roar, as he started calming down and Reed let go of him. "Good thing your flexible enough to watch your own back…cause I ain't doing it no more. You two are on your own," Ben spoke as he stalked out of the lab and down the stairs.

In the lobby, Johnny was walking by with a toy created to look like Ben. He was grinning, seeing as he was proud that he had come up with the idea to make Ben feel better, and a way to apologize.

Ben was stalking down the lobby just as Johnny looked up and saw him. Beaming Johnny walked up to him. "Hey! Check out what the marketing guys and I came up with!" Ben stopped and stared at the little figure in Johnny's hands. "Check it out, listen!"

Johnny pressed a button causing the little toy to speak. _"It's clobberin' time!"_

Johnny grinned. "Eh? It's kinda catchy right!" Ben grabbed the toy and pushed Johnny against the wall before smashing the toy next to his head. "Aw! That was the prototype!" Johnny shouted out in annoyance, that he'd have to help make a new one, and that Ben didn't like his peace offering.

Ben just grunted and started walking out. "I swear, Kathy's the only one that get's me," He muttered in annoyance as he walked out of the building.

Sue came out of the elevator looking for Ben when she saw Johnny. "Johnny, have you seen Ben?"

"Yeah, sunshine just left," Johnny snorted. "Look Sue, I'm sorry. I can't stay in this freak show any more. I need to get back to the real world."

Sue looked at her brother incredulously. "Your calling that the real world?"

"Sue stop, you not mom. Stop treating me like I'm a little boy."

"Maybe I would if you'd stop acting like one! Do you even hear yourself?" Sue questioned. Johnny glared.

"Why is everybody on my ass? You know, if they're jealous that's fine Sue, but I didn't expect this to come from you Sue!"

"You really think those people out there care about you? Your just a fad to them Johnny!" Sue shouted trying to get through her brother's thick skull.

"You know what? Let's try something new. You live your live. I live mine. Sound's good?" With that Johnny started storming out, before he turned and spoke one last thing. "Oh and, just for the record. They love me!"

Reed started up the machine that would get all of this mess sorted out. He stared at it for a second before he opened the doors and stepped inside. The machine started up, causing the lights in the building to flicker.

Sue, who was in the elevator when it started flickering looked confused for a moment before she realized what was happening. "Oh god…Reed."

Sue ran into the lab just as the machine doors opened and Reed stepped out. Sue grinned when she noticed Reed was unharmed, but her relief turned to panic when the right side of Reed's body started to go limp and stretch from his bones. Reed collapsed onto the ground, and Sue was by his side in an instant.

"Oh my god Reed, what did you do?"

"I can make it work…" Reed tried to speak.

"No!"

"I need…more power."

Victor, who was watching this all unfold in the comfort of his office grinned. "More power?" Pulling out his phone he called his new assistant. "Lenard, bring Ben Grimm to the Baxter building."

"What is this? Where's Reed?" Ben shouted when he walked into the lab seeing the lights out and only Victor. Victor's assistant didn't look any more comfortable with the situation.

"Where do you think? With Sue." Victor looked to his assistant. "That's all Lenard."

"Yes sir." And with that Lenard was gone.

"What do you want Vic?"

"To help you. The machine is ready."

"But Reed said-"

"Reed also said we'd avoid that storm in space, but we saw how that turned out," Victor interrupted Ben. "Reed couldn't generate enough power for the storm to reach critical mass. Yet another mistake for, _Mr. Fantastic." _Victor spat out the last part.

"And you can?" Ben questioned.

"Yes. Now tell me. Do you want to be Ben Grimm again?"

Ben looked down at himself, covered in rocks and unrecognizable from his former body. He nodded. Victor opened the doors of the machine and allowed Ben to step inside before he closed them. Turning on the machine Ben started groaning as the radiation from the storm hit him again.

Victor looked at the power levels and saw it was dropping. He noticed the machine that housed the energy from the storm and opened it, before reaching his hand in and shooting electricity into it, causing the energy levels to spike up."

Power started flickering all across the city. Sue, who was getting medical supplies, Reed who was resting in his room, and Johnny who was walking around Time Square all saw the flickering. Johnny, seeing it coming from the Baxter building, broke into a sprint hoping everyone was fine.

The doors to the machine opened and Ben came out, normal. He felt his face and started laughing. "Oh, thank you. Vic? Vic?" Ben looked around noticing Victor wasn't there. Ben climbed out of the machine and grabbed his coat, and adjusting the belt on his pants so they wouldn't fall to low. "Vic? It worked! The machine worked!"

"Everyone thought I was safe behind those shields," Victor spoke walking into view, the scar down his face visibly showing the metal underneath along with other patches of skin gone showing metal, and parts of his shirt burned and still smoking showing his metal arm.

"Oh my god. The machine worked for me, it could work for you too!" Ben grinned.

"Oh it did Ben, it worked perfectly."

Ben was frozen as he let that sink in. "You planned this."

"I've always wanted power. And now I've got an unlimited supply."

"And no thing to stand in your way," Ben breathed realizing he was just played.

Victor smirked. "Take a good look Ben, this is what a man looks like who embraces his destiny." Victor smacked Ben's face sending him flying backwards into a cart where he lay, unmoving.


	9. It's Clobberin' Time!

**A/N: Here's chapter…actually I lost count, but here's the next chapter! I got my inspiration back to finish this story by watching a movie! I honestly don't remember WHAT movie it was that I watched that inspired me, but that really doesn't matter at this point! Now what's going to happen to Ben? Where's Kathy? What's Vic's plan? Let's find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four, just my OC Kathy.**

**It's Clobberin' Time!**

Victor looked satisfied that Ben stopped moving. "Two down, three to go."

"Vic?" Reed asked walking on the catwalk, holding his stomach, and seeing Victor.

Victor looked up and smiled. "Right on cue!"

Reed looked over and saw Ben on top of the cart and his eyes widened. "What did you do?"

"Exactly what I said I would. I built a better, stronger being. And outsmarted the great Reed Richards."

"If you've exposed yourself to the storm your endangering your life! You need help!"

"You always no best." Victor spoke and Reed sighed in relief. Victor grinned maliciously. "Tell me. What happens to rubber when it's super heated?" Reed's eyes widened as Victor shot electricity towards him. Reed moved out of the way in time and tried to run to cover when Victor blasted him, sending him through the glass and onto the roof. Reed started slipping but grabbed onto the roof. His arms started stretching, still not completely healed from exposing himself to the storm again, and lost his grip falling down the building.

In the lobby, Jimmy the lobbyist saw the lights flickering and looked confused. Victor walked out of the elevator and Jimmy looked at him in concern. "Mr. Von Doom? Are you alright?"

"Never better Jimmy." Victor smacked Jimmy so he flew through the door and out onto the street. He saw Reed hanging in front of him unconscious and grabbed his arm. "Why the long face? Let's talk in my office," he spoke sarcastically starting to drag Reed off. Noticing his reflection in a piece of glass on the ground he stomped on it and made his way to his office building.

He broke open the case containing the mask that was given to him by the people of Latviria and put it on his face. He looked out towards a river he could see from his office and grinned. "Let the show begin."

"Ben!" Sue shouted running into the lab and seeing Ben unconscious. She took his pulse, and once satisfied that he was alive grinned.

"Sue!" Johnny called out worriedly.

"Johnny! The machine works! Give me a hand!" Sue called out.

Johnny ran in and saw the damage and looked shocked. "Jesus. Ben, you alright? Put him on the steps," he told Sue. They sat Ben down and Johnny looked at him. "What happened big guy, I leave you for five minutes."

"The machine…Vic used it on himself. He was affected by the cloud like us," Ben explained.

"Where's Reed?" Sue asked.

"Vic must've taken him," Ben spoke and looked up. He froze noticing the broken window. Both Storm's siblings looked up and saw it and stiffened.

"Dr. Richards," Victor spoke, sitting in his chair with a green cape with a hood on. "Allow me to begin your lesson. Chemistry 101. What happens to rubber when it's super cooled?"

Reed was strapped into the freezing unit that Vic had stole from his factory. Victor walked up to him and bent his finger back. "Give up? That's not like you. After all we're both Doctors. Right?" Noticing Reed's face, Victor glared. "Painful? You don't know the meaning of the word." Victor walked over to his desk and typed some stuff on the computer allowing him access to the screens in the Baxter building to show anything he wished. "But your about to find out, what pain truly is." An image on the screen in front of Reed flashed Kathy's face. Reed's eyes widened and he tried, in vain, to get up. "Oh? You like this channel? Let's share it to the whole family? Shall we?"

The screens inside of the lab came to life, grabbing the attention of Ben, Johnny, and Sue. The screen switched to Kathy who was unconscious, boat chains and anchors tied around her tiny frame as a crane held her over the Hudson river. Their eyes widened. "Kathy!" Johnny screamed.

The small girl had no idea what was going on. She was still unconscious from being shocked the second time. The screen switched to split screen to show both Kathy and Victor simultaneously. _"Enjoying the show?"_ Victor asked.

"You son of a bitch Victor!" Ben called out.

"Let her go!" Sue pleaded.

Victor nodded._ "As you wish Sue._"

With that Victor pressed a button that released the crane. As Kathy plummeted to the water, her eyes fluttered open. She inhaled a breath of air and disappeared underneath the surface of the water.

Johnny's eyes widened. "KATHY!"

Reed's eyes widened, pain easily seen. Victor grinned to himself and walked over to his desk where a heat seeking missile was nestled. "This is a little something from our defense contracts. Let's check up on the rest of the family, shall we?" Victor snickered as the heat seeker locked onto Johnny before firing.

Johnny and Sue went onto the balcony, trying to see the Hudson River from where they were. Sue put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Johnny, she'll be alright. We have to stay calm."

Johnny nodded, and tried taking deep breaths when the two heard the shatter of glass and looked up seeing the missile turn towards the Baxter Building. Johnny looked up at it before back at himself and groaned. "Oh no."

Johnny went over to the edge of the building and looked down seeing the immense height. A smile coming to his face, he came up with a plan. "We've got to get out of here!" Sue shouted.

"I've got an idea!" Johnny grinned as he backed up a few steps and clapped his hands together.

Sue saw where he was going and glared. "Don't even think about it!"

"Never do," Johnny retorted as he ran forward and jumped over the edge of the building.

"JOHNNY NO!"

The missile curved downwards towards Johnny. Johnny looked in front of him and saw the oncoming pavement. "Come on, Johnny. Come on, Johnny. FLAME ON!" Johnny went completely on fire burning off his clothes as he angled himself up and started flying over the cars in the city. "WOO-HOO! Take that Miss-I'm-The-Only-Hero-Who-Could-Fly!" Johnny cheered, happy that now Kathy wasn't the only one who could fly. He felt a pang in his heart, remembering what just happened to Kathy. But he had to trust she could get herself out of it.

Johnny started weaving in between buildings with the missile right on his tail.

Sue sighed in relief as she went back to Ben. "We have to help Reed," Ben spoke.

"It's too dangerous for you know, you have to stay here!" Sue ordered as she ran out of the lab.

Ben looked guilty. "What did I do…" His eyes widened as he looked to the machine, an idea forming in his head.

Johnny was weaving through the buildings of New York City, trying to escape the missile. He turned back to check and see if the missile was still following him, but when he looked back he noticed a large building. "Whoa!" He shouted as he pulled up to avoid smacking into the building.

Johnny throw a ball of fire up into the air, before turning off his own flame, so he was falling towards the ground. Johnny moved out of the way of the oncoming missile as it disappeared after the fireball. Johnny was satisfied that he was safe until he saw the missile turn back around and head straight for him.

Johnny turned his fire back on and started flying out towards the river. "Think Johnny, think!" He noticed a garbage barge out on the water. "I've got it!" He flew towards the barge as he threw a fire ball, setting the entire thing on fire.

Sensing a new greater source of heat, the missile crashed into the barge, the blast sending Johnny into the water.

Victor, saw the explosion on the river and smirked. "Three down, two to go."

The latch turning the freezing unit on flipped over and the cuff's holding Reed down started to come undone. "Sue…" Reed whispered.

Sue quickly shushed him, as she continued to try and undo the restraints without Victor realizing she was there. "What has he done to you…"

"How romantic."

Sue whirled around shocked, her invisibility disappearing. "Victor please-"

"Call me Doom."

"The machine works. It worked on Ben, and it could work on you, we can change you back," Sue explained. Reed was the only one who noticed the lights started flickering once more in the Baxter building.

"Do you really think fate turned us into God's, so we can refuse these gifts?" Victor questioned. Susan glared.

"Victor, you always thought you were a God, now back off."

"Susan…let's not fight."

"No. Let's." Susan sent a wave of energy she normally used to shield herself, towards Victor, causing him to stumble back and a window to shatter.

Victor glared. "Susan…your fired." He sent a wave of electricity at her causing her to fly backwards hitting a wall and land on the ground. "And to think, I was about to share the rest of my life with you." Susan looked up and turned invisible. Victor stopped moving and surveyed the area. "Marco…Polo? Marc-"

Sue started sending wave after wave of energy at Victor. Victor quickly shot electricity out at Sue showing where she was. He grabbed her throat and held her up in front of a painting to see her outline. "Did you say goodbye to your brother Johnny?" He taunted, tossing her by Reed. She looked to Reed, looking about ready to give up hope. "It's time to end this."

The wall behind Victor burst, showing Ben back as the Thing. "No Vic, it's clobberin' time!" Ben punched Victor, causing him to fly across the room and smack into a huge piece of artwork made in the shape of a 'V', which fell on top of him. Ben grinned.

"Damn, I've been waiting to do that." Ben noticed Sue on the ground. "Suzie you alright?" Susan nodded and started undoing the restraints again. Ben pulled the freezing unit away and started to help pull the wires off of Reed. "Vic's not that bad, huh? He's just a little larger than life, right? Maybe next time you'll listen to me before-"

The lights turned out causing everyone to freeze and look around. Sue saw Victor's figure charging at Ben. "Ben!" Victor tackled Ben out of the window as they started hurtling towards the ground. The two crashed through the roof of a building, landing in a swimming pool, causing cracks to appear. Ben punched Victor, causing a hole to appear as they both fell to the other floor and slid out another window, hurtling towards the city street.

A garbage truck passed by as both of them landed inside. To the people on the street passing by, they saw electricity and dents appear in the garbage truck before Ben came flying out of the back and landing on top of the car of two elderly ladies who started screaming.

"Sorry ladies. Pull over?" They continued screaming. "Hit the brakes!" The driver hit the breaks and immediately they both got out of the car while Ben pulled himself from the windshield.

Police cars drove up to the scene as the back of the garbage truck opened showing Victor standing there, electricity flickering out of him. "This is the police! Get down from the vehicle and put your hands up!" They ordered. Victor shot electricity at both of the squad cars, causing an explosion as the police officers scrambled to safety.

"Ladies, I'm going to need to borrow your car," Ben spoke walking towards it.

"The transmission's stick!"

Ben put a hand underneath the car and the other on the hood. "Not going to be a problem!" He flipped the car and over to Victor, where it crashed into him and he landed in a bus. Ben looked on, hoping that it would be enough to take Victor down. The doors to the bus opened and Victor stepped out, adjusting his cape.

Ben growled as he charged towards him. Victor picked up a pole and slammed Ben in the head, sending him flying back creating a small crater in the ground. Victor stalked up to Ben ready to kill him as he raised the pole "Goodbye Ben."

"I can't let you do that!"

Victor looked over his shoulder and saw Reed. "Reed? I'll be right with you." Victor tried to ram the pole through Ben's chest but a force field restricted him from doing so. Victor dropped the pole and turned, clearly annoyed, seeing Sue. "Hello Susan. You three, are pathet-" Victor was cut off as a fireball flew and hit Victor in the chest.

Johnny flew over and landed next to his sister. "You missed me." Ben pulled himself out of the crater and walked over next to Reed.

Victor grinned. "But it seems your one short. I guess we can count out Katherine for this fight. She's sleeping with the fishes at this moment." The four people before him stiffened.

Victor's grin was quickly wiped from his face as a fist connected with it, sending him back into the ground. He got up and standing before him was a soaking wet, pissed off, Kathy.

"You tried dumping me in the Hudson River," Kathy hissed out, "And you assumed I was dead."

"Kathy!" Reed, Ben, Sue, and Johnny all called out.

Kathy continued glaring at Victor. "A little advice. If you drop me to the bottom of the river, you better be DAMN sure I stay there because, now I'm going to kick your sorry ass!" Kathy stepped in line with the others next to Johnny. "Nice to see everyone's here, and not at each other's throats." Johnny and Ben grinned sheepishly. Reed and Kathy shared a look, both nodding. A silent agreement that they would catch up on everything once this fight was over.

Johnny looked over at Ben. "Had a little relapse? Welcome back."

Victor grinned. "This is going to be fun." He started using his powers sending electricity everywhere, causing glass and metal to rain down as innocent people ran for cover.

Johnny started charging at Victor but was shot with his electricity, sending him crashing into Kathy, who helped get him back to his feet. Ben tried the same approach but got the same treatment as Johnny, falling to the ground.

A metal part from a telephone pole was about to fall onto a young girl. Sue saw it and put a force field around it lowering it to the ground. Victor, seeing his opportunity started firing at Sue, who created a shield in front of herself. "I can't hold it!" She shouted. Reed looked to his sister who nodded.

Kathy flew out towards Victor trying to land a punch, but Victor jumped backwards, causing Kathy to punch the ground. A large crater appeared where her fist landed. Reed, using Kathy's distraction, wrapped his arm around a mailbox before flinging it at Victor stunning him. He rolled forward and wrapped himself around Victor. Kathy jumped backwards to land next to Johnny, trying to study what her brother's plan was.

"Johnny! Supernova!" Kathy and Johnny shared a look.

"I thought we agreed that was bad?" Johnny reminded him.

"NOW!" Reed shouted. Johnny turned his fire on and flew towards Victor. Reed grabbed onto Ben, who pulled him off of Victor as Johnny started flying circles around Victor.

"Sue! Think you can contain it?" Reed called out. Sue nodded and started forming a shield around the fire. Victor growled and shot electricity at the shield causing holes to appear.

"It's not working! We need someone to hold him down!" Sue shouted. Kathy looked to Reed and grinned. Reed caught his sisters look and his eyes widened.

"Kathy no!"

Kathy ran over to the shield, found the closest hole, and dove in. She flew over to Victor and landed behind him, wrapping her arms underneath his and locking her fingers behind his head in a full nelson. Johnny, who was still flying around noticed Kathy and started turning down the heat. Kathy noticed the change and laughed. "Turn up the heat Storms! I can take it!"

Johnny hesitated for a second before increasing the heat tremendously. As he circled around Victor and Kathy several times.

Ben looked on at the sight and grinned. "Flame on, kid."

Victor started letting loose electricity, shocking Kathy, trying to shake the girl off of him. Kathy screamed but wouldn't let go as both the electricity and heat increased inside of the shield.

Blood ran down Sue's nose as the exertion started to get to her. Johnny let out one more burst of fire before the shield broke and he flew out and landed on the ground the fire disappearing from around his body. Sue let the shield go and landed on her knees breathing deeply. Kathy, finishing her job, let go of Victor who grabbed her by the hair and tossed her away from him, landing on top of a car.

The fire died down as Victor's metal body glowed a startlingly bright color silver. "Is that the best you could do…a little heat?"

"Time for your lesson," Reed started, "Chem 101. What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?" Ben kicked the top off of a fire hydrant and angled it so it shot at Reed, who bent his body to funnel the water over to hit Victor. Steam clouded the area and after Reed gave the okay, Ben bent back the metal from the fire hydrant to try and fix it somewhat.

Ben and Reed looked over trying to see what happened. Sue looked up from the ground, Johnny stood up to see, and Kathy had lifted her head up from the car to see if their plan had worked.

Victor was rooted to the ground as if he were a statue. Frozen solid. "Whoa…" Ben muttered. He made his way over to Johnny and put a hand on his shoulder. "You done good, kid."

Johnny grinned, but then turned to look at Kathy who was still pulling herself out of the car. He ran over as Ben went to go check on Reed and Sue. "Hey, you okay?" Johnny asked worried. Kathy was now sitting up on the hood of the car. She shook her hair out, causing fragments of glass to fall. Hopping off of the car she stretched her neck and nodded.

"Yeah, nothing damaged. I should be fine."

Almost immediately Johnny pulled her into a hug. Kathy laughed. "I said I was fine Johnny."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

Johnny pulled away from her to look her in the eyes. "Reed and Sue told me what happened five years ago. Why you left." Kathy stiffened and looked down.

"That wasn't any of your fault. I'm the one who should be sorry for treating you like crap for all these years."

Johnny smiled and hugged her again. "I don't blame you and I'm sorry for not protecting you. But that's not going to happen again. I promise." Kathy hugged him back and smiled.

"Thanks Johnny."

Johnny release her from his hug and put an arm around her shoulder as they started to walk back towards the others. A smirk graced his features. "So? Was that hot enough for you?"

Kathy turned and elbowed him in the ribs. "Really? We were having a moment and you just had to go and ruin it."

"What? I was kidding!"

Reed ran over to Sue, and helped her up. "Sue, you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." They stood up and looked around at the people who had gathered, applauding and cheering for them. Johnny, Kathy, and Ben joined Reed and Sue. Johnny put a hand on Reed's shoulder and grinned.

"Man, I love this job."

"Job, huh?" Ben asked.

Reed grinned. "Well, we do have the suits."

The five of them all turned around, waving to their fans.

The gang were all on a cruise ship with a banner that said 'Thank you, Fantastic Five!' Alicia and Sue were at the bar getting drinks. "Ladies, your drinks." The bartender spoke.

Alicia started laughing. "I don't think we need another."

Sue giggled. "Just one more."

Johnny was shaking the hands of the Chief Firefighter and Police Chief when a group of girls surrounded him. "Oh, oh. I need names, and shots! Bartender!"

"Custom made, 36 quadruple E." Ben spoke showing Reed his new sneakers.

"I was crunching the numbers on the machine, and if I just rewire the-" Reed started but Ben cut him off.

"Don't sweat it egghead," Ben started as Alicia and Sue walked up. "I'm good as is."

"Better than good, baby," Alicia smiled. Ben tried to clink her glass but wound up breaking it. "We just need to work on your touch," Alicia laughed.

Ben grinned. "I like the sound of that."

Reed looked around. "Hey, where's Kathy?"

Sue snickered. "Last I heard she was hiding. They're agent's all over the place that heard her sing and are looking to book her. She's actually supposed to sing a song today too."

Kathy was sneaking around quietly and inconspicuously. Well, as quietly and inconspicuously as possible with three inch heeled knee length boots and a short tight gold dress. She passed by Johnny and the group of girls and rolled her eyes. She wanted to go over there and totally mess with him, but she had to remain out of sight.

Unfortunately for her, the Human Torch would not hear anything about her hiding to night. "Kathy! There you are!" Everyone around her turned to look as Johnny grinned evilly at his best friend.

"You bitch," Kathy glared playfully at Johnny as the playboy made his way towards the DJ and grabbed the microphone.

"I hope everyone's having a good time!" He paused as he waited for the applause to die down. "As added entertainment for the evening we're going to have Miss Kathy Richards perform a song for you! Would you like that?" Everyone burst into cheers as Kathy glared daggers at Johnny. Johnny reached over and grabbed Kathy's hand and helped her onto the little stage.

"I hate you."

Johnny put a hand on her back as Kathy forced a smile to the ground and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Love you too."

He handed her the microphone and hopped off the stage with a look that seemed far to satisfied to be from just getting her on the stage. Johnny looked down at his right hand and brushed some ash from it as he smirked. He was going to get HELL for what he just pulled when Kathy found out. But it was worth it.

Kathy looked at the audience and smiled slightly. "Hey there everyone. This is a song I wrote…a few days after the accident in space. It just felt right. It's dedicated to Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny. I hope you guys like it."

_I don't wanna make a scene. I don't wanna let you down_

_Tryin' to do my own thing, and I'm starting to figure it out_

_That it's alright keep it together where ever we go_

_And it's alright oh well whatever_

_Everybody needs to know_

_You might be crazy_

_Have I told you lately_

_That I love you_

_You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly_

_And it's crazy_

_That someone could change me_

_Now no matter what it is I have to do_

_I'm not afraid to try_

_And you need to know that you're the reason, why_

_I don't even care when they say when you're a little bit off_

_Look em in the eye I'd say I could never get enough_

_Cuz it's alright keep it together where ever we go_

_And it's alright oh well whatever_

_Everybody needs to know_

_You might be crazy_

_Have I told you lately_

_That I love you_

_You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly_

_And it's crazy_

_That someone could change me_

_Now no matter what it is I have to do_

_I'm not afraid to try_

_And you need to know that you're the reason, why_

_If it was rainin' you would yell at the sun_

_Pick up the pieces when the damage is done_

_You say it's just another day in the shade_

_Look at what a mess we made_

_You might be crazy_

_Have I told you lately_

_That I love you_

_You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly_

_And it's crazy_

_That someone could change me_

_Now no matter what it is I have to do_

_I'm not afraid to try_

_You might be crazy_

_Have I told you lately_

_That I love you_

_You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly_

_And it's crazy_

_That someone could change me_

_Now no matter what it is I have to do_

_I'm not afraid to try_

_And you need to know that you're the reason why_

Kathy finished her song and everyone burst into applause. She hoped off the stage and was bombarded with agents. Reed stretched his hand around the agents and tapped Kathy on the shoulder. Kathy saw her brother's hand and pulled something out of her pocket and gave it to him, before it stretched back.

Reed looked to Sue. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sue nodded. "Sure." Ben winked at Reed who nodded in thanks before walking out to meet Sue.

Reed sucked in a breath before starting. "I found a broken gasket from space."

Sue looked confused. "A gasket? Reed, we're at a party-"

"And if one of us were to wear it," Reed continued pulling out a silver ring, the very thing that Kathy had passed to her brother. Sue looked at the ring then to Reed in shock. Reed got down on one knee, and looked Sue in the eye. "No more thinking, no more variables." Reed stretched back so that he had to look up at Sue, instead of cheating and stretching his torso to look her in the eye.

"Sue Storm, will you marry me?"

Sue turned invisible and put her finger through the ring. Reed looked anxious. "Sue…you kinda need to say something."

"Ooh! Yes. Yes." Sue spoke. Reed sighed in relief and smiled standing up. He looked at Sue's invisible face and leaned forward to kiss her.

Sue giggled and turned visible. "That's my nose genius, these are my lips." She grabbed his face and brought his lips to hers.

All the party guests were crowded around the door watching the scene. Kathy was beaming, Johnny was grinning from ear to ear, and Ben was smirking. "Aw…she's kissing him." Ben narrated for Alicia who laughed.

"Congratulations!" Someone shouted out.

"Hey," Ben spoke catching Johnny's attention. "No more wise-cracks about my size."

Johnny smiled. "Hey, call me Mr. Sensitivity."

Someone pointed to Kathy, grabbing the girls attention. "Can I help you with something?" Kathy asked.

"Ooh, I just didn't know you were dating the Human Torch," The man said.

"Excuse me?"

"The back of your dress."

Kathy walked over to a mirror and saw that on the back of her dress was a burnt of piece of her dress which was in the shape of a handprint and letter's underneath saying 'Property of the Torch.'

Johnny seeing Kathy look in the mirror, decided to make his escape. But not before making fun of Ben. "Okay, wide load coming through! Everyone move, he's huge!"

Ben glared and chased after him, as he started walking away. "Come here Mr. Sensitivity!"

Kathy was right behind Ben. "JOHNNY YOU JERK!"

"Flame on!" Johnny burned off his clothes and started flying into the sky.

"Show off!" Ben called out. Kathy growled and took to the skies. Johnny was flying around making a flaming five in the sky before flying off.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN I CATCH YOU JOHNNY STORM!"


End file.
